8) Defying the Tales
by IlaGolden
Summary: This is the eighth book in the Tales Saga. The Tales Saga is an alternate version of Yu-Gi-Oh which rewrites the story from the end of Battle City onwards. First tragedy strikes, then people start disappearing left, right and center. Emotionally charged, tension running high and time running out, can they get to those who need them before its too late?
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Her phone was ringing. She didn't need to check who it was; she knew it would be Yugi. Nervously she bit her lip and, after a few seconds of deliberation, she hung up. She couldn't face talking to him. Not just yet anyway. When she was ready, she would tell him. But she wasn't ready yet. It had been about six months since she'd woken up to find herself physically weakened after three months of inactive sleeping. She'd then had to endure another month within the hospital walls recuperating and during that time Yugi had never left her side. Somehow this had allowed their relationship to develop and the strong feelings of friendship blossomed into love.

But dating Yugi hadn't been easy, because you weren't just dating him; you were dating the Pharaoh and the Face of Friendship too. Sometimes it felt as though she was in some bizarrely surreal foursome and that didn't always settle comfortably with her. She loved him; even if she wasn't quite sure which 'him' it was she was in love with, she knew that she loved him. There were just times when she wished their relationship could be more... normal.

Her phone rang again. And again she hung up. He was going to hate her when she told him, then he'd leave. He'd leave her and tell the others what she'd done and they'd leave her too. Then she'd be on her own. It was the one thing she feared more than anything; being on her own. Somehow being in a coma had made that fear worse, not better and even though she was trying really, really hard to learn who her friends were now, the scared little girl inside of her still wanted things back the way they were before. Back when their friendship group was a safe haven in a world of madness.

Everything in her squirmed and twisted as her phone rang for a third time.

'I'm sure Yugi wouldn't do that to me,' she stared at her phone as though it were some kind of giant killing machine. 'I'm sure he'd understand and everything would be okay. So why... why can't I convince myself he won't leave me when he knows?'

Almost as soon as her phone rung off it started ringing again. Swallowing hard she forced herself to answer it.

'Téa, are you okay?'

'I'm fine,' she lied, 'I was just in the middle of getting ready.'

'So you ready now?'

'Yeah.'

'Okay, I'll pick you up in about five minutes then. See you soon.'

'See you,' she tried to keep her voice as level as possible as she hung up.

Her eyes drifted towards her reflection in her bedroom mirror. There was a paleness to her cheeks and a redness to her eyes that a bit of makeup would have to fix before Yugi arrived. She knew she would have to tell him eventually, but not tonight. Tonight she would smile and talk and act as though everything were completely normal. But things weren't normal. How could they be normal when she...?

* * *

'Explain to me again why you're dragging me to this thing,' Kaiba folded his arms, whilst throwing Tristan a seriously unimpressed look.

'Because we're the reason Crovell was born two months early.'

'So his birthday's our fault, does that really mean I have to go too?'

'No, but you're coming anyway; that way I can make sure… I don't want to come back to her. Seto, I don't like her.'

'I know.'

'I don't like the way she thinks she can just come out whenever she wants to.'

'I know.'

'I want you to get rid of her. I don't want her to…' he turned his head away. 'Not again,' he gritted his teeth, 'I don't want _that_ to happen again.'

'I know.'

'Then we have to find her deck and destroy it,' his hands balled into fists. 'I can't have a normal relationship with you when she's around, because every time she... she does _that_.'

Kaiba turned his head away and said nothing. What could he say? He knew Tristan was right; he knew they had to get rid of her, but at the same time... At the same time he knew she had the upper hand. Okay, she might not have won over the people who mattered yet, but everyone else was definitely sucked in by her. She'd also proven time and time again she was the one in control of when the Flip happened, not him. And now... now she had something over him which would slowly increase her importance and diminish his.

'The prototype is still working okay, right?' Kaiba deliberately changed the subject.

'Yeah, I guess,' Tristan stared down at the black leather cuff bracelet on his right wrist. 'There a few things I'm not sure I can remember, but they're definitely not important things.'

'Maybe I should charge the Chip up before we go out then,' Kaiba frowned, 'better safe than sorry.'

'Here,' Tristan removed the silver strip from the top side of the cuff and handed it over to him, 'but at some point you're going to have to work out a way of making this experimental Ohpayo technology of yours self charging.'

'I don't need to make it self charging,' he glanced up at Tristan as he carefully sent waves of Ohpayo energy into the strip of silver, 'I just need to add the contacts to the other side so it can automatically charge from you.'

'That's what I meant,' Tristan rolled his eyes. 'But in the mean time it would be nice if you at least showed me how to charge it myself.'

'Yeah, I will, tomorrow,' he passed the silver strip back to him.

'And could we come up with a better name than the Chip for it,' Tristan slotted the strip back into place, 'something a little bit more Etean and less robotic.'

'My invention, my choice of name,' Kaiba smirked.

'Whatever.'

'Are you two coming or not?' Mokuba suddenly poked his head round the door of their room. 'Only we're going to be late at this rate.'

'Yeah, yeah, yeah,' Kaiba rolled his eyes again, 'let's get this over with.'

'Remember you promised you wouldn't argue with Téa,' Tristan shot Kaiba a look as they made their way out of the room.

'Hey I'm not the one arguing with her,' he held up his hands defensively, 'she's the one with the problem, remember? Not me.'

* * *

Mai gave a content sigh as she stared down at her beautiful sleeping baby daughter. She couldn't believe how happy she was. Behind her, she heard the soft approach of footsteps, followed by a loving pair of warm arms wrapping their way around her waist.

'Mrs Lutoni-Wheeler I presume.'

'How did you know,' she twisted herself around to face Joey, placing her arms around his neck as she did.

'Well the guy who sent me to find you said you'd be the most beautiful woman I'd ever seen.'

'And was he right?'

'I found you, didn't I?' He kissed her passionately.

'Why Mr Lutoni-Wheeler,' Mai smirked as the kiss ended, 'not in front of the baby.'

'She's asleep,' he kissed her again.

'But she's not deaf.'

'But she is only three months old.'

'And she's also Crovell's little sister and you remember what he was like at her age.'

'Aye,' he rolled his eyes, 'I remember,' he sighed. 'Are you sure you don't want to come to this thing tonight?'

'Someone's got to stay here and look after Jo.'

'Didn't Korin offer to do that?'

'Joey, you're going to be late.'

'I don't want to go without you.'

'It's your son's birthday Joey; you pretty much have to go.'

'Why couldn't Ahna have had it here like I suggested? Then I wouldn't have to leave you behind.'

'I'll be fine Joey, you go.'

'I want you to come.'

'Joey, I can't.'

'Please.'

'You're going to be late.'

'Fine,' he kissed her for a third time, 'I'll go, but I'm still not happy about leaving you here.'

'I know,' she smiled sweetly at him, 'but I'll be here, waiting for you to come back.'

'You'd better be,' he playfully narrowed his gaze on her, but didn't move.

'Joey,' she laughed, 'you have to go.'

'I know, I know,' he rolled his eyes as he turned, 'but I'll be back soon as I can, promise.'


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

'Awful weather, isn't it?' The sound of her voice made him jump.

'It's not so bad,' he shrugged as he turned towards her, 'shouldn't you be inside?'

'I could ask you the same thing.'

'Yeah, but I asked first.'

'True.'

'So?'

'So…?'

'So why aren't you inside?'

'It's too hot in there, besides they keep talking in Etean.'

'You should ask your brother to teach you.'

'I think he's more concerned with teaching Crovell.'

'Well, you know I could teach you if you like.'

'It would be nice not to be the only one who doesn't understand it,' a slim smile pulled at her lips.

'I don't think Téa and Duke really know it either.'

'Oh I don't know, they seemed to be following it better than me,' she sighed. 'But I guess that's because they're round it more than I am.'

'Well then that settles it,' he smirked, 'you've just been enrolled in the Mokuba Kaiba School of Etean. Class begins tomorrow, nine am sharp.'

'Oh yeah?' She laughed, cocking an eyebrow at him as she did.

'Yeah,' he nodded, 'and I don't appreciate lateness.'

'So where does class take place exactly?'

'Um…'

'Some teacher you are,' she giggled, 'you don't even have a classroom.'

'You want to learn Etean or not?'

'Yeah,' she nodded, 'I want to learn.'

'Then don't make fun,' he folded his arms. 'Look, just come over to mine, there are plenty of free rooms there.'

'Sounds cool,' she grinned. 'So you want to tell me why you're outside now?'

'I'm waiting for that to reach us,' h pointed up towards a break in the threatening black sky.

'Why?'

'I don't know,' he shrugged, 'maybe because then the rain will stop.'

'I thought you said this weather wasn't so bad.'

'It's not; there's just something... threatening about all this rain.'

'True.'

'No,' he shook his head, 'you don't understand, I mean there's something really threatening about it.'

'You don't think something's coming, do you?' Serenity frowned.

'The last time we had weather like this, Crovell was born.'

'Probably because it was a year ago,' her face filled with a confused frown, 'unless I'm missing something.'

'Joey did fill you in on the events surrounding your nephew's birth, didn't he?'

'Not really.'

'Typical,' he rolled his eyes.

'So what happened exactly?'

'It's complicated.'

'You mean more complicated than my brother becoming the First Mistress of Light, impregnating a member of the Reganna and then having a son who might just be the most powerful child ever born to mortal parents?'

'That's complicated?' He laughed. 'That's like an average day around here,' he shook his head. 'So you staying with Téa again?'

'No,' she pressed her lips together. 'My Mum's down too, we're saying in a hotel.'

'Why isn't she here?'

'Joey wouldn't let her come.'

'I see...' now it was his turn to frown. 'But... doesn't she have a right to see her own grandchildren?'

'Yeah, but Joey can be so stubborn.'

'Tell me about it,' he rolled his eyes again. 'So how long are you down for?'

'Until my Mum gets to see Jo and Crovell,' she shrugged.

'In other words, indefinitely.'

'I guess you can say that.'

'Good.'

'Why good?'

'It gives me more time to teach you.'

'Huh?'

'Etean,' he grinned, 'I'm teaching you Etean, remember?'

* * *

Ahna gave a heavy sigh as she carefully lay her son down into his crib. Behind her the rain beat heavily against the window; once again the weather on Sil was reflected the weather in Domino. A part of Ahna couldn't help but wonder if she should always expect rain on her son's birthday or if this weather was an ominous sign of things to come.

'It was a nice party,' Covo's voice sounded from behind her, 'but I still don't get why we couldn't have it here.'

'Covo, did I ever tell you what punishment the Mistresses gave me? For being Gan the first time round I mean.'

'Something to do with blocking your powers.'

'That was part of it,' she nodded, 'but I was also forbidden to leave Sil.'

'Does this have something to do with holding Crovell's party on Earth?' An almost knowing smile tugged at Covo's lips.

'One year ago my son was born and one year ago my ban was lifted.'

'So it's a celebration of being able to go to Earth?'

'I guess you could say that.'

'You're a weird one Ahna Crovell.'

'You've only just figured that out?'

'No,' he smirked, 'I've known for a while.'

'You know I am feeling a little guilty about my decision,' she pressed her lips together. 'I'm sure Veronie missed Mai not being able to come tonight.'

'He did seem a little tense.'

'I can't believe he's married,' she shook her head. 'Is it wrong for me to be jealous?'

'I guess that depends on what you're jealous about.'

'That I should be a married woman, but I'm not,' she lowered her gaze. 'Stupid really; it's not even about Veronie, its more… knowing I should have been married.'

'How did he propose to you?'

'He didn't, it was more a mutual agreement we both came to. Everything in our relationship was a mutual agreement. It's why neither of us could ever say we loved the other; because neither of us agreed it was true.'

'It's not like that with us though, is it?'

'No, it's not, nothing with you is the way it was with Veronie and for that I'm truly grateful.'

'Because you love me?'

'Of course I love you,' she placed her arms around his neck, 'and... I want to marry you.'


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

It was raining hard and as every ice cold drop of it hit her skin she couldn't help but feel strangely alive. It was like a stinging reminder from the heavens and she liked it. It didn't take long before the entrance to her little basement hide came into view. As it did she muttered the now familiar words of her Glamouring spell and allowed her image to transform into that of a broodishly handsome male. She couldn't remember how and when she'd first discovered this little spell of hers, but she did know just how much it had changed her.

Her hand hesitated on the door handle as she realised it was unlocked. A momentary wave of annoyance moved through her; there was no doubt in her mind who had entered her hideout and she was more than glad this would be the last time she would have to deal with him. She made her way inside and locked the door after her, before descending down the stairs and into the gloom of the room below.

'There's no point in leaving the door open and the lights off,' her male voice was smooth, but contained gruff edges, 'I know you're here.'

'I hoped you would,' the basements strip lights flickered on revealing the white haired young man stood arrogantly in the middle of the room.

He was dressed in his usual long black leather trench coat, with his arms folded and the ever present look of amusement burnt across his face. He irritated her more than she would ever care to admit, even to him, and she was just glad he had no idea who she really was.

'I thought I told you never to enter this place without me,' she took out the packet of cigarettes from her pocket and lit one up, 'this is _my_ lair, not yours.'

'You still wish I wasn't around, don't you?' He narrowed his gaze on her.

'If you've held up your end of the bargain and proven yourself useful to me then our encounter has been tolerable, but after tonight, no matter what the outcome, this is where things end between us.'

'I see,' he lowered his head slightly, 'pity, I was hoping you'd have reconsidered my original offer by now.'

'I told you, I have no interests in a partnership. This is _my_ plan and I will not share the glory with anyone.'

'And I told you before; I'm not asking for a share in the glory, I just want to make sure you succeed.'

'I apologise if I don't believe you, but nobody just helps a guy like me out just because they can. Everybody wants something and, here, I can even prove it,' she pulled the golden eye out of her pocket and tossed it towards him. 'It was exactly where you said it would be, although why you couldn't have retrieved it yourself...'

'I told you before, my ability to manifest myself in this world is limited right now,' he pocketed the eye, 'and the place I'd hidden it was inaccessible to me in my current state. Now, I believe these are the items you've been looking for.' He swung the bag he was wearing off of his shoulders and tossed it towards her. 'Giya is such a nice place to acquire _unusual_ things, but a living being like yourself would have stuck out like a sore thumb.'

'If you're about to give me some droll speech about how we need each other, save it; I don't care and I really don't want to know,' she shot him a look. 'But this had better be everything or I will hunt you down and beat your ass into non-existences,' she took a drag of her cigarette as she examined the contents of the bag.

'Oh trust me, it's definitely everything,' his face filled with an almost shark-like smile, 'including one extra little item not on your list I'm sure you'll be most interested in. An item which will allow you to hold that false form of yours indefinitely, provided nothing affects the inner strength of your magic.'

'What?' Her eyes shot up towards him.

'Oh please don't tell me you didn't think I'd figured it out?' He laughed. 'I know that's not your real face, but, to be honest with you, I don't care what you really look like. I'm just interested in seeing your plan succeed and my little gift will help you. So enjoy.'

Before she could make any kind of response to him he'd vanished into thin air. She grunted in annoyance and finished up the cigarette she was smoking before rummaging through the bag for a small pot of midnight blue paint. She then set about creating a large semi-circle across the floor, with the base of it connected to the back wall. There couldn't be a single break, crack or imperfection in the semi-circle she created or in any of the symbols she painted across the floor inside of it or along the back wall. Everything had to be done perfectly in the perfect order not just for the spell she wanted, but also to make sure what she was doing didn't flag up on any interested parties' radar. She couldn't be found out too soon. No, she _wouldn't_ be found out too soon, not if she had anything to do with it.

As the hours ticked by the spell which created her disguise wore off, changing her back to her normal, boring self again. She also felt herself becoming light headed; whether it was from exhaustion or from the paint fumes, she neither knew nor cared. She couldn't stop until everything was ready. She'd been working too long and too hard to allow things as trivial as light headedness get in her way now. Outside the rain continued to pelt down, masking the dawn she instinctively sensed approaching. The last of the symbols were almost finished and even with the basements strip lights on she could still see the eerie glow her work was creating.

Excitement moved through her in the same way it had when she'd first accidently stumbled across that scroll. She couldn't remember what it was she'd actually been looking for at the time, but it didn't matter now. She knew then the same thing she knew now; it had been her destiny to find that scroll just like it was her destiny to bring about...

She forced herself to stop her own train of thoughts; she was getting ahead of herself now. There was still a lot which needed to happen before she could be absolutely certain the rest of her destiny would truly come into fruition. Not for the first time since finding that scroll she felt an inner conflict of some description brewing within her, but before it manifested itself into anything she pushed both sides of the argument away. She didn't have the time for turmoil right now; she'd already decided she was going to do this and that was it; there was no turning back.

* * *

Stretching contently, he snuggled his head into Kaiba's chest; it was nearly seven am and he was trying his best to stop his companion from getting up for work. With his eyes closed and a faint smile across his face, he listened to the sound of Kaiba's steadily beating heart. The alarm clock beside the bed buzzed loudly. He gave a disappointed groan, but didn't move and after a few seconds the buzzing stopped.

'You have to move now.'

'No.'

'I have to get up.'

'No you don't.'

'Yes I do.'

'Take the day off.'

'You know I can't do that.'

'You're the boss, of course you can.'

'Tristan move.'

He didn't reply, instead he snuggled closer in.

'You're impossible.'

'And you're not going anywhere.'

'Yes I am.'

'No.'

'I'm not joking.'

'And neither am I.'

'Do you have to do this every morning?'

'Yes,' Tristan could feel the cheekiness of his own smirk, 'because one day it might actually work.'

'Move.'

'I don't want to.'

'Move or I'll move you and I won't be gentle about it either.'

Sighing reluctantly, Tristan shifted his head back onto the pillow. To his surprise this action wasn't immediately followed, as it normally was, by the movement of Kaiba rising from the bed. Curiously he opened his eyes, to find out why.

'Are you okay?'

'I'm fine,' Kaiba slowly shook his head, 'I'm just…'

Suddenly his eyes bulged and his hand flew to his mouth. Leaping to his feet, Kaiba then dashed out of the room. Alarmed, Tristan followed him and was horrified to find him throwing up.

'You're not going into work now.'

'I'm fine,' he stared up at him, his face sickly pale.

'No you're not; you're ill.'

'It's nothing. You can't stop me from going in.'

'Yes I can,' he folded his arms stubbornly.

'No you can't,' shakily Kaiba rose to his feet.

'Seto you are not leaving this house and that's final.'

'But I have to go in.'

'No you don't; your staff are actually competent enough to run your company without you, you know. You've let them do it plenty of times before, so why not let them do it now? You're ill; you need to stay home and rest.'

'Don't take care of me,' he lowered his gaze as his jaw line hardened. 'I'm supposed to take care of you; don't take care of me.'

'You're sick.'

'I'll be fine.'

'No you won't.'

'Yes I will.'

'I'm not letting you go anywhere today,' Tristan placed his hand under Kaiba's chin and forced him to meet his gaze. 'You're sick; you have to stay home.'

'I'm fine.'

'You're not.'

'Tristan...'

'Seto.'

'I'm supposed to take care of you,' reluctantly Kaiba shuffled into his arms.

'Not today you're not.'

'But I take care of you. That's what you need me for. That's what I have over her.'

'You have a lot more than that over her,' Tristan's grip tightened, 'for a start, I actually like you.'

'But what if…' he hesitated, 'what if she finds a way to make you like her?'

'Impossible.'

'But what if she does? What if she finds a way to give you something I can't?'

'Seto, I told you, that's impossible, I will never like her. I hate her. She knows that. That's what makes you stronger than her. That's what will destroy her in the end. And when that day comes, I'm going to hold a great big party to celebrate.'

'But what if…?'

'No buts Seto, I love you and nothing she does will ever take that away.'


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

'Good morning Catilin,' Nayta smiled politely at her as the two of them met, 'little early for you to be up, isn't it?'

'A little maybe,' she grinned, 'but Cayoon wanted to do something this morning; in about an hour. I'm on my way to see her now and I wanted to walk.'

'Why?'

'Because it's about to rain again; I can smell it in the air,' she held her hands up towards the sky and spun around, 'perfect walking weather.'

'You're mad,' Nayta laughed and shook her head.

'Your hairs all wet too, so I can't be the only one who likes walking in the rain.'

'I've just had a shower.'

'Then why'd you come straight outside?' Catilin frowned at her. 'Its winter you know. Ahna says if you go outside with wet hair in the winter you'll catch a cold.'

'That's a little bit of an exaggeration,' Nayta tilted her head to one side, 'besides it's not that cold today.'

'But I can see my breath, look,' Catilin gave a sharp breath out creating a cloud of white smoke in front of her, 'that only happens when it's cold.'

'I didn't say it wasn't cold Catilin, I just said it wasn't that cold. There's no frost on the ground this morning, is there?'

'No that's true,' she glanced about. 'And it is really early still so there would be some if it was really cold.'

'Exactly,' she yawned.

'Being up this early always makes me yawn a lot too,' Catilin grinned at her, 'did you have to do stuff for your shop?'

'Huh?' Nayta frowned.

'Ahna said most shops get things delivered really early so that the customers don't see; so where you up because of that?'

'If that were the reason I'd still be at the shop now, wouldn't I?'

'Ah... yeah, I hadn't thought of that,' Catilin pressed her lips together, 'so why are you up so early then?'

'I had things to do.'

'But not things for your shop?'

'No, not things for the shop; personal things.'

'Okay,' Catilin nodded, 'will you be at your shop later?'

'Of course, why wouldn't I be?'

'Because personal things can take ages. But if you're gonna be at your shop later then that's okay; I might come and see you.'

'That would be nice,' a slow kind of smile spread across Nayta's face, 'but didn't you say you had somewhere to be right now.'

'Uh... yeah, I should get walking,' she laughed, 'see you later Nayta.'

'Goodbye Catilin.'

* * *

'You stay here,' Tristan gently kissed his forehead, 'I'll be right back.'

As soon as he'd left the room, Kaiba lifted the blanket of his head and did his best to muffle a scream of frustration. This was just about the last thing he needed right now and the only thing which could make it worse was...

'Aw Seto, is someone feeling poorly this morning,' as if on cue her voice sounded clearly from the other side of blanket.

'Go away.'

'What is that, three mornings in a row now? You're only in bed because he caught you.'

'I am not in the mood for this right now Piper,' he lowered the blanket in order to stare up at her telepathic projection, 'so just leave me alone.'

'But you promised it was my day today,' she pouted, 'I'm not going to let you lie about in bed like this just because he thinks you're sick.'

'Shut up Piper, we could be sick for all you know.'

'Well we both know there's only one way to find out. Isn't that why you promised me I could have the body today?' She met and held his gaze. 'You wouldn't want to go back on your promise now, would you? You know I don't like it when you treat me unfairly.'

'It's not as though I planned for him to catch me like that,' Kaiba shifted his gaze away.

'I don't care,' she folded her arms, 'and I know for a fact you're dying to know the truth just as much as I am. So let me have the body so we can...'

'So now you're looking for reasons for Tristan to hate you?' Kaiba smirked. 'Because he will hate you for taking control of my body and skipping out of this place when he thinks I'm sick.'

'Yes but I'm banking he'll forgive me when he finds out why,' she cocked her head slightly. 'In fact I'm banking he'll do more than just forgive me.'

'He hates you Piper, this isn't going to change that,' he gritted his teeth.

'I wouldn't be so sure about that Seto. In fact I'm betting the opposite will be true and I know you fear it will be too. So stop coming up with excuses and let me have the body already; because one way or another, we will find out today.'

* * *

As Jo began to stir, Mai leant down and carefully lifted her out of the crib. She almost couldn't believe how naturally motherhood came to her and she was loving every single minute of it.

'Good morning angel and how are you today?' She beamed at her beautiful baby girl.

Jo gave a content gurgle and snuggled into Mai's arms. Mai found herself watching her little girl for a few moments, before the heavy sound of rain pelting against glass caused her to lift her eyes towards the window.

'Miserable weather, isn't it?' Ahna's voice sounded from behind her.

'Hey,' she smiled politely as she turned to face her, 'Crovell with Joey or Covo?'

'Covo,' she paused for a moment. 'You know it was raining heavily in Domino last night too and according to Téa the weathers also been on and off there like it's been here this morning.'

'You don't think another Crovell's about to be born, do you,' Mai joked, hoping her voice sounded less nervous than she felt.

'I hope not,' Ahna laughed, clearly oblivious to Mai's uncertainties.

'So... what were you and Téa talking about?' Mai shifted her gaze away as she changed the subject.

'Not much really,' she pulled a face, 'I thought she was acting a little... off last night. I mean, I know I don't know her all that well, but I felt like she was worried about something. I thought maybe she might want someone to talk to who was a bit more... neutral to the situation, if you know what I mean.'

'Did she go for it?'

'No, she said that everything was fine and she'd just been a little tired last night. I'm not sure I believe her explanation, but I don't really know her well enough to press. So in the end my advantage was also my greatest weakness.'

'Maybe I should give her a call.'

'And let her know I've been talking about her behind her back, I don't think so,' Ahna shook her head. 'It's not like she's overly fond of me as it is, the last thing I need is to give her any reason to dislike me.'

'Mm, I guess not,' Mai lowered her gaze.

'Alright,' Ahna's eyes narrowed on her, 'spill.'

'What?'

'We've been living together for a year now Mai, I think I've learnt to tell when something's bothering you.'

'It's nothing,' she shook her head dismissively.

'I don't believe you for a second,' she folded her arms, 'tell me or else.'

'Or else what?'

'Or else I'll try to steal your soul again,' she smirked. 'Oh come on Mai, I won't tell anyone, promise.'

Mai found herself chewing on her lower lip for a few moments as her eyes studied Ahna. It was true, the two of them had formed a weird kind of friendship and maybe that's what made Mai relent.

'I think I might be pregnant.'

'Again?' Ahna gave a shocked sounding half laugh. 'But Jo was only born three months ago.'

'Yeah and two weeks later I was on honeymoon.'

'Are you sure? Maybe your body's still settling or something. I mean, I remember what it was like after I had Crovell.'

'Ahna, I wouldn't be worried if… look I'm probably wrong.'

'You don't think you are though, do you? I know that look; Catilin has it all the time.'

'I'm not Catilin.'

'I know, but I still know that look.'

'What am I going to do?' Mai gave an exasperated sigh. 'I mean, I'm not supposed to have another kid.'

'Says who? A future that no longer exists?' Ahna gave a strange half laugh. 'The second they saved Veronie, they opened up the possibility for you to have more children.'

'This soon?'

'Why not?'

'Because I already have one baby to worry about, I really don't need another right now.'

'There's only a nine month difference between Jo and Crovell, you know.'

'I know, but Crovell's yours. I mean, I love him too, but at the end of the day…'

'I know what you mean,' she sighed. 'Have you told Veronie about this yet?'

'No.'

'Are going to?'

'Soon,' Mai bit her lip, 'well as soon as I'm sure anyway.'

'I promise I won't say anything until you do.'

'Thanks.'

There were a few moments of silence.

'Oh yeah,' a strange smile crept across Ahna's face, 'I just remembered why I came in here.'

'Huh?'

'Mai I'm getting married, I proposed to Covo last night.'


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

'Kayrty om vendra zes Etean mero zon mero,' Mokuba grinned at her, as she took a seat on the pale blue couch in a small side room with a disproportionately large bay window at one end.

'Let me guess,' she smirked, 'hello and welcome, right?'

'Aye,' he nodded.

'Are you planning to spend the day speaking to me in Etean or are you just showing off?'

'Showing off,' he blushed slightly. 'So what do you want to start with?'

'Huh?'

'Well, what in your opinion is the most important thing for you to learn? We'll start there.'

'Um…' she mused for a few seconds, 'how about with the family.'

'You mean brother, sister and all that?'

'Yeah.'

'Okay… well brother is braysta and sister is soulless.'

'Soulless?'

'Yeah, I know,' he rolled his eyes, 'anyway, father is parto and mother is marana.'

'So that makes Joey, Crovell's parto.'

'And you're his una.'

'Una?'

'Aunt.'

'Una Serenity,' she smiled, 'I like the sound of that.'

'Yeah, it does have a nice ring to it.'

'So what about niece and nephew?'

'Well niece is kni and nephew is knil. Costa is cousin and ulk is uncle.'

'Do you ever miss the fact that you're never going to be an uncle?' Serenity suddenly interrupted, catching him off-guard.

'What… what do you mean?'

'Well, now that your brother and Tristan are together,' she tilted her head to one side and half turned her gaze away. 'I mean, they can't have kids, obviously.'

'Yeah… but that doesn't mean I'll never be an uncle. I mean, what if I marry someone with a brother or sister who has kids?'

'Yeah I guess,' she pressed her lips together, 'but it's not the same.'

'You don't know that,' he folded his arms and turned his head away, 'it could be exactly the same for all you know; you've got nothing to compare it to. And who knows, maybe they'll adopt or something.'

'Who'll adopt or something?' Tristan cocked an eyebrow at him as he entered the room, before shooting a curious look in Serenity's direction. 'Hey, Mokuba didn't mention you were coming over.'

'It's not like I have to check with you and Seto every time I want someone round,' he rolled his eyes.

'I know, but it is kind of a rare occurrence lus braysta.'

'Now you're making it sound like I don't have any friends,' his face filled with a sour look. 'I have more friends than Seto.'

'No, you have as many friends as Seto, you're just willing to admit they're actually friends,' he smirked. 'So what exactly is it that you're up to anyway?'

'Mokuba's teaching me Etean,' Serenity smiled politely at him, 'because I felt left out.'

'Really? So lus braysta, who do you thinks going to hate this idea more; Joey, because a Kaiba's teaching his sister Etean or Seto, because his brother's teaching a Wheeler Etean?'

'Err…'

'I'm sure my brother won't mind too much,' Serenity giggled.

'I'm sorry, have you met Joey?' Tristan cocked an eyebrow. 'You're brother is hardly the world's most reasonable person you know.'

'Yeah, well he doesn't have the time to teach me himself,' she lowered her gaze. 'I'm sure he'll understand; I just want to be a good aunt to Jo and Crovell.'

'I'm not so sure he'd see it like that,' Tristan shook his head in amusement, 'but I won't mention this to Seto, if you don't want me to.'

'Thanks Tristan,' Mokuba's face filled with a weak smile.

'Yeah, well, just keep it down would you, your brother's not feeling too well today so I've got him resting.'

'You actually managed to convince him to stay in bed?' He laughed. 'That's got to be a first.'

'I can be very persuasive when I want to be,' he shrugged, 'although it would help if I didn't just spend the last hour on the phone to the Kaiba Corp offices. Surely the CEO of all people can phone in sick without having to justify it.'

'You did a mimic of my brother over the phone?' Mokuba frowned.

'Well... no, I guess that was the problem; I still don't have any real authority with them and I know none of them know what to make of me.'

'Well you and Seto both agreed you didn't want to go public, so...'

'We're not having this conversation again lus braysta,' he shook his head, 'there's absolutely no reason for people to know about your brother and me and you know it. I'm happy with things the way they are, I just need to remember to play mimic once in a while; you know, to make my life easier,' the final part of his statement was said using a voice which sounded exactly like Kaiba's, 'now, if you'll excuse me I have a patient to take care of.'

* * *

Smiling in faint amusement, Tristan made his way back upstairs. Briefly he recalled the crush he used to have on Serenity and how long ago that stage of his life felt to him now. Sometimes when he looked back on it, it almost felt like her was looking back at a completely different person; especially since... He gave an almost involuntary nervous cough and tried to chase those thoughts from his head. Serenity hadn't been the first girl he'd had a crush on, but she had been the last. And he had never felt the same way about any of those girls as he did about Kaiba which in his mind was the only thing that mattered.

Sighing contently, he quietly re-entered the bedroom expecting to see Kaiba still lying below the covers. So he was almost shocked to find the bed empty. Leaving the room again, he made a quick search of the second floor, returning in intervals back to their room just in case. Still no sign.

His stomach began to knot several times over as he extended his search to the rest of the house, just in case. On his final return to their bedroom he knew there was one more thing he had to check before biking his way over to Kaiba Corp and dragging Kaiba back kicking and screaming for a much needed sick day. He crouched down next to Kaiba's side of the bed and glanced under in search of Piper's black and white backpack; it was nowhere to be seen. Gritting his teeth, he got up and headed towards the wardrobe, pushing Kaiba's clothes to one side to see if any of Piper's clothes were missing. Almost as if she was trying to taunt him somehow there was a definite gap along her rail.

With anger coursing through his veins, he made his way down to through the house, grabbing his helmet and jacket as he did. Manoeuvring his bike out of the garage and onto the driveway, he straddled it, before slipping the chain which held its ignition key off of his neck. Slotting the key into the ignition, he then fastened his helmet and started the bike.

'Alright Piper,' he revved the engine, 'you asked for this.'

* * *

The golden scorpion glinted on the bicep of her right arm; it's thin, needle like legs dug deeply into her flesh. It was painful, but it was a necessary pain, a useful pain, a pain which meant her plan would be much easier to achieve now. As much as she hated to admit it, even to herself, _he_ had been right to acquire this little device for her. A part of her wondered if maybe she should thank him for it, but that would have required both seeing him again and thanking him, neither of which she particularly wanted to do.

Her eyes scanned round the gloom of her bedroom; this would be the last time she'd see it. After all, if she was going to fully fulfil her destiny she needed to cleanse herself of her former safe little life. She caught sight of her male reflection and a twisted smile pulled its way across her lip. No matter how many times she saw it, she couldn't get over just how much she loved the way he looked. It was different, it was dangerous, it was a face no one would recognise, but few would forget. She'd worn his skin enough times now to be used to its little quirks and nuances as she broke it in and made it hers.

Picking up a discarded leather jacket from the floor, she pulled a pack of cigarettes and a lighter out from the top pocket. Sliding one of the cigarettes out of the packet, she rested it between her lips and slipped the packet back into her pocket. She then slung the jacket over her right shoulder and slowly swaggered out of the room. Just as she reached the door, she stopped and lit the cigarette. Taking a single drag, she flicked it from her hand into the nearby wastepaper basket, filled to the brim with oiled covered cloths. It quickly caught light.

Laughing in cruel pleasure, she left the room; her old life would soon burn away to nothing and she would be free of the shackles which once bound her to it. Somewhere inside of her she could still feel a single shred of pity and remorse for everything she was losing, but it wasn't enough to change what had to happen now. And it did have to happen now; it was her destiny after all.

As she left the house the damp, cool smell of wet air rose to meet her. The rain had stopped for a moment and this only made her smirk. It was as if the weather knew what she was up to and agreed with it. After all, water killed fire and her life wouldn't burn in the rain.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

'Bored now,' Jay flopped down onto the sofa in one of the larger rooms the two Helpers frequented.

'You're always bored.' SK rolled his eyes, 'we should make it your middle name or something.'

'Sorry,' he smirked, 'already got one and it's Richard.'

'So you'd just be Jay Richard Bored Peters.'

'And you'd be Seto Unfunny Khoral.'

'Jay Immature Peters.'

'Seto can't take a joke Khoral.'

'Whatever,' he shrugged, 'but I agree with you.'

'Ah, so you admit you can't take a joke,' Jay twisted himself into an amused sitting position.

'No, I mean about being bored,' SK's tongue skated across his lips as he rolled his eyes again, 'it's been kind of quiet lately.'

'I thought you liked it when things were quiet.'

'I do, mostly,' he half turned away, 'but I guess I like the chaos too.'

'Ah SK my friend, welcome to the dark side,' Jay was up from the couch with an arm around SK's shoulder in the blink of an eye, 'so, what do you want to do to make things more exciting?'

'What exactly do you have in mind?' SK narrowed his gaze on him as his tongue skated across his lips again.

'I was thinking we could have a party,' he grinned, 'I know you haven't been dead for very long my friend, but let me let you in on a little secret; the dead like to party just as much as the living do. If not more so.'

'Well I had figured that from all the invites we get from the other Councils,' SK rolled his eyes.

'Well from the way you keep declining those invitations I wasn't so sure you did get it,' Jay rolled his eyes.

'I'm just not the partying type,' he shrugged, 'besides I still remember what happened the one and only time we did accept an invite.'

'Wow, paranoid much,' Jay cocked an eyebrow at him, 'or just secretly an alcoholic wanting to avoid all temptation.'

'Ha, ha, very funny Jay,' SK's tongue skated across his lips again.

'So?'

'So, what?'

'Can we have a party?'

'I'll think about it.'

'Ugh, that's just code for no, isn't it? Come on SK, live a little. All you ever do is hang around here; do you even have any other dead friends besides me?'

'Do I need them?'

'Well that depends on whether or not you think I'm gonna be around forever,' Jay rolled his eyes once more.

'Why wouldn't you be around forever,' SK shrugged as he licked his lips again, 'besides, I have living friends, so what do I need dead ones for?'

* * *

Despite pitting herself against him, Piper didn't hate Kaiba. Yes the two of them were fighting for the right to an existence, but he'd still been her creator and she was still a part of him. No matter how much freedom she gained, no matter how much of a life she acquired, she never felt like she was truly a person in her own right. It made her regret what she'd said out of anger six months before; because in all honesty she definitely never felt like she had any more of a right to exist than he did. But that didn't mean she was going to give up, roll over and let him take her existence away. Just because she didn't have any more right than him to exist, didn't mean she had less of a one. In truth, her wish more than anything was that he would accept her existence and they could share a life and everything that came with that life.

Kaiba's pride and refusal to tell the others what was really going on had allowed Piper to gain the trust of everyone except Mokuba and Tristan. She realised pretty early on she was going to have to do something pretty major to get either of them to give her the time of day, never mind anything else. It was why she'd come up with her little plan and why she'd taken so many risks to put it into action. So far all those risks had managed to achieve was Tristan's complete and utter distrust of her; something which cut her more deeply than any physical wound she could ever receive. Still if she was right... if things had gone the way she was hoping then things would start to turn around for her.

For a few moments Piper stopped to admire her reflection in the window of a shop she was passing. Thanks to Catilin and Téa her wardrobe had received a total upgrade, with the two of them supplying her with more hand-me-downs than she could have ever asked for. As a girl who knew very little about being a girl, it was nice to have friends who were more than willing to show her the ropes and lend her things until she got the hang of it herself. She would have loved to have gone shopping and picked out her own wardrobe, but Kaiba refused to buy anything for her which wasn't gender neutral, since he would end up wearing whatever she'd been wearing when they Flipped back. Clothes weren't part of a person's genetic makeup, but Piper couldn't help but wonder if a person's fashion sense was.

'Stop admiring yourself and get going already,' Kaiba's image projected itself next to her.

'What's the matter Seto, not anxious are we,' she continued to admire her reflection for a few moments, even going so far as to strike a few poses.

Okay, so she might not hate Kaiba, but that didn't mean she didn't really enjoy winding him up.

'You're the one who was hell bent on doing this today, remember?' He folded his arms.

'Yes, but it's not often you willingly let me take control like this,' she turned towards him, 'I just want to enjoy myself a little.'

'Enjoy yourself later; we have things to do right now.'

'Yeah, yeah, yeah,' she rolled her eyes, before continuing up the road again.

As she rounded the corner into the next street, a boy on the other side of the road gave a loud wolf whistle, causing her face to turn bright red. It didn't matter how often boys did things like that she still found it hard coping with male attention. It was something Catilin often teased her about. But then nothing seemed to faze the Silkoneon queen, who was either too innocent or too confident to allow anything to bother her for long; it was just one of the many things in all of her female contemporaries Piper found herself envying.

The boy who'd whistled at her crossed the road. He was tall, with a curly mop of dark hair and blue-green eyes, which appeared to shift colours depending on the light. He was dressed in jeans, a white t-shirt and a heavy black leather jacket. Around his neck was a single gold chain, with an odd spider shaped pendent hanging from it. With a somewhat intense but friendly smile on his face, he blocked her path.

'I saw you blush and just had to come over.'

'Yeah, well…'

'I've never had anyone blush before. Not that I whistle at a lot of girls mind, but you're defiantly the first who's blushed,' he lightly touched her arm. 'So you from round here?'

'None of your business,' she pulled away from him.

'No need to be like that,' he laughed as his eyes glinted with an almost evil kind of excitement, 'I was just asking you a friendly little question.'

'Yeah, well…'

'Got a boyfriend?'

'None of your business.'

'Is that your answer to everything?' His grin became almost shark-like. 'As you refused to answer the question, I'm going to take it as a no. So what's your name?'

'None of your business.'

'Nice name,' he ran his tongue along his top set of teeth, 'but do I call you None or Business?'

'I don't have time for this,' she folded her arms and tried to sound more confident than she felt. 'Now either you leave me alone or I'll…'

'You'll what Piper?' He pulled a cigarette from his pocket and lit it. 'Throw an energy ball at me?'

'How…?' A bolt of fear shot through her as she took a step backwards.

'I'm sorry,' he blew a slow cloud of toxic smoke into her face, 'but I'm the one who's going to be asking the questions here, got it?'

'What... what do you want from me?'

'Nu-uh-uh, that sounded like a question Piper and what did I just say?'

As he spoke the spider pendent around his neck suddenly sprang to life. It disconnected itself from the chain, scuttled quickly from its master and attached itself to the back of Piper's neck. Squealing in pain, she fell heavily onto all fours.

'So let's try this again shall we?' He knelt down next to her and lifted her face up towards him. 'You from round here?'

'Yes,' the word was out of her mouth before she could stop it.

'Got a boyfriend?'

'That depends on how you look at it.'

'Interesting answer. So what's your name?'

'Piper Ohpayo.'

'Why?'

'Piper because the Pure's name begins with a P and Ohpayo because it means light.'

'A pretty cleaver nod back, for a pretty little girl like you,' he took another drag on his cigarette. 'So you got any plans to win this _dependent_ boyfriend of yours over?'

'Yes, it's the one thing I can do to win them all over.'

'There's more than one person you need to win over?' He cocked an eyebrow.

'Yes,' she tried to grit her teeth to stop it, but the words forced their way out anyway, 'Mokuba, Tristan and Seto. I want to win them all over so they'll let me keep my existence and this is the only way I can do it.'

'I see,' he gave a half laugh. 'And this _one thing you can do_ is gender specific I take it.'

'Yes.'

'But considering the circumstances, doesn't your plan have one major flaw?' He took another drag of his cigarette.

'If you flip gender, you flip gender completely,' she tried to keep her voice level. 'The plan is strange, yes, desperate even, but it's flawless.'

'Oh no, see that's where you're wrong,' he cocked his head, 'there is one major flaw in your plan,' his hand tightly squeezed her face, 'and it's me.'


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

Catilin was just making her way back towards the Northern Palace, when a bright flickering of light caught her attention. It took her a few moments to work out the flicker was in fact flames. Alarm filtered through her and she took off in search of its epicentre. To her amazed horror, she discovered three small shops in the market district were alight. Several dozen or more Silkoneons and Odraians were already battling the flames, with the water Elementalists taking up the front line. Without hesitation Catilin joined in. It might have been too late to save the buildings, but there was a determination to put the fire out before it spread any further.

It took nearly an hour, but eventually the flames died away leaving behind the charred remains of three livelihoods.

'Terrible, isn't it?' Joey's voice almost made her jump out of her skin.

'Yeah,' she automatically reached for his hand like a little girl looking for comfort.

'Mai's going to be devastated,' he sighed as he reassuringly squeezed her hand, before putting a comforting arm around her shoulder.

'Why?'

'Catilin you should know where we are, you've come here often enough,' he indicated towards the charred remains of the central shop.

'Nayta...' the word wavered almost tearfully out of her, 'is she okay?'

'I don't know,' his voice strangely mute, 'she's the only one not accounted for.'

* * *

Duke slipped his phone into his jacket pocket as he quickly made his way out of his office and through the game store he owned. Just as he reached the entrance, he bumped into Tristan, whose face had a strange look of concern on it.

'Hey,' his voice gave little to nothing away, 'you seen Piper?'

'She's not been in today, least not as far as I know,' Duke studied him curiously.

Tristan muttered something under his breath and quickly turned to leave.

'Wait,' Duke caught hold of his arm, 'I need you to take me to Sil.'

'Why?' Tristan frowned at him.

'There's been a fire. Cat thinks Nayta might be d…' he hesitated. 'She's pretty upset.'

'Sure, I'll take you,' a weak but sympathetic smile pulled at his lips, 'but can you do me a favour first?'

'Sure, what is it?'

'Can you phone Téa for me and ask her if she's seen Piper?'

'Can't you do that yourself?'

'I don't trust her not to lie to me when it comes to Piper,' he shifted his gaze away, 'I know she prefers her to Seto.'

'Yeah, you're right, she does seem to have a vendetta against Kaiba at the moment,' Duke pulled his phone out of his pocket.

'I just wish I knew why,' he folded his arms, 'I mean, since she came out of her coma she's stopped being such a bitch about the fact everyone's changed and we've been getting on a lot better, except when it comes to Seto. I just don't get what her problem is.'

'I wish I had an answer for you, but...' he shrugged as he scrolled through his address book and hit the auto call button once he reached Téa's name.

'Hello?' Téa's voice sounded down the line to him a few seconds later; there was something slightly odd about her tone, but he didn't have time to worry about it.

'Hey, it's Duke.'

'Yeah, I know, my phone does tell me these things you know,' her voice remained tight. 'Is everything okay?'

'Yeah, I was just wondering if Piper was with you.'

'No, haven't seen her, why?'

'I... err... well I was wondering if she wanted to do a little duelling this afternoon. We've got a mini-tournament on and so many of our competitors have been asking after her.'

'Oh, I see,' Téa's voice was now almost completely mute. 'Do you want me to get her to call you if I see her?'

'Err… yeah, I guess,' he found himself frowning. 'Is everything okay with you Téa, you're sounding a little...'

'I'm fine,' she cut him off, 'I'm just not feeling well this morning.'

'Are you sure that's all it is?'

'I wouldn't say so if it wasn't. Look, I've really got to go now. Doctor's appointment. Bye.'

'Bye...'

He lowered the phone as he hung it up and stared at it for a moment. There was definitely something not quite right with the conversation he'd just had, but he'd have been hard pushed to say what it was. He gave a heavy sigh and shook the thought from his head; he had other things he needed to deal with now.

'Piper's not with her,' Duke eyes lifted to meet with Tristan's, 'so can you please take me to Catilin now?'

* * *

'That was Tristan on the phone,' Mokuba gave a heavy sigh as he re-entered the room he'd left Serenity in, 'Piper's done a disappearing act and we need to go find her.'

'Piper?' Serenity frowned for a moment. 'Wait, isn't she the female Kaiba?'

'I guess you could put it that way,' he shifted his gaze away. 'So Téa's told you about her then?'

'A little, I don't really quite understand who she is or where she's come from exactly, but I do know she and Kaiba share a body, right?'

'Right.'

'So... if he's feeling sick, shouldn't she be feeling sick too?'

'Yeah, she is, I have no doubt about that.'

'So then why would she just take off?

'I don't know,' Mokuba gritted his teeth, 'but I have a few suspicions.'

'Oh?' Her eyes glinted with puppy-dog curiosity.

'I'm not going to tell you what my suspicions are,' he shook his head.

'Why not?'

'Because I'd rather not humiliate my brother like that.'

'Humiliate your brother,' Serenity almost jumped on his words. 'Wait, I think I remember Téa something about how Piper got her...'

'Please do not finish that sentence,' Mokuba held his hands up to stop her, 'it's kind of a humiliating thing to acknowledge about your brother.'

'Has it made him ill before?'

'Really? You're really going to continue this conversation which clearly makes me uncomfortable?'

'Sorry I guess I'm just a little curious, that's all.'

'Yeah... well...' he shifted uncomfortably, 'it wouldn't be the first time he's had to take a little time because of her, so...'

Almost as soon as he'd spoken Serenity pressed a hand against her mouth to suppress her giggling. An almost electrical jolt of annoyance shot through Mokuba and he found himself glaring almost threateningly at her.

'What's so funny?'

'I'm sorry, I know I shouldn't find it so funny,' she gave a nervous cough to get her giggling under control, 'it's just the thought of a guy like Kaiba getting...' she starting laughing, almost instantly clamping her hand over her mouth to silence it. 'I'm so sorry, I just can't help it.'

'Yeah, well how about you help us look for Piper instead,' Mokuba folded his arms and half turned away from her. 'Tristan's already checked her usual haunts so now we need to start doing a more open search. It's not the first time we've had to hunt her down like this, but we might find her a little faster if we had a female perspective on the situation.'

'Of course, I'll help,' she got to her feet.

There were a few moments of silence as she got her stuff together. Mokuba averted his gaze and tried to focus on the task ahead; tracking down Piper wasn't exactly his favourite task in the world.

'Why do I get the feeling you're not all that fond of her?' Serenity's sudden question startled him.

'Who?'

'Piper.'

'It's complicated,' Mokuba shrugged, 'see Seto decided he didn't need her anymore and tried to get rid of her and she decided she wasn't ready to leave yet. I don't think she acts the way she does out of malice exactly; although she does intentionally do things to wind Seto up, I know that.'

'So you want to get rid of her?'

'Again, it's complicated. I mean, I know life would be a lot easier if she wasn't around,' he lowered his voice slightly. 'But at the same time...'

'She's still a living person and you wouldn't feel right killing her?' Serenity studied him for a moment.

'If Tristan could just find where she's hidden her deck, I'm sure he'd have no problems getting rid of her,' Mokuba lowered his gaze, 'but I think I would hesitate.'

'What does her deck have to do with anything?'

'Her deck is her touch item; her existence is linked to it so if one's destroyed so is the other.'

'I see,' she pressed her lips together, 'and Tristan would really have no problem getting rid of her?'

Mokuba hesitated for a moment. He knew he shouldn't be talking to Serenity about all this, but after months and months of only having his brother and Tristan to talk to about it, it felt nice to have someone else to offload on.

'I... I don't know exactly what it is, because they won't tell me, but I know... I know Piper keeps doing something Tristan really doesn't like. And I don't think it can just be some niggling little thing either, he seriously hates her for it. Well... maybe hates too strong a word, but that's how it feels and I know whatever it is really gets to Seto too, but...' he shrugged and shook his head.

'It sounds like you're all in a difficult situation right now.'

'Yeah, we are,' he lifted his gaze to meet with hers, 'and you can't tell anyone, okay? Especially not your brother, he wouldn't let Seto hear the end of it. We will sort this situation out eventually, I just really hope it's a resolution everyone will be happy with.'


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Duke sat mournfully on the couch watching the baby Crovell, whose eyes kept going from the soft plastic alphabet blocks he was supposed to be playing with to his strangely quiet father. Joey stood with his back to them leant over Jo's crib, his gaze focused solely on his daughter. Across the room, Covo gave a heavy sigh as he continued to stare sightlessly out of the window. A strange silence surrounded them, broken only by the muffled sound of weeping, which seeped in through the walls. In another part of the Southern Palace Ahna, Korin, Catilin and Mai were miserably bonding over their shared grief.

The seconds ticked by unnoticed. And, after a lot of infantile debating, Crovell crawled slowly over to Joey and wrapt his chubby little arms around his father's ankle.

'Daddy,' his small voice was respectfully sorrowful.

Sniffing tearfully, Joey picked him up and hugged him tightly.

'We should call Jay and SK,' Covo gave a slight cough.

'For what exactly?' Duke stared at him.

'I don't know,' he shook his head helplessly, 'to confirm that she's dead. To find out if there's some way to bring her back. Anything,' he lowered his gaze, 'I just feel as though we should be doing something.'

'There's nothing we can do,' Joey's voice was mute. 'She's dead and that's all there is to it.'

'We still don't know that for sure.'

'She isn't anywhere else Covo.'

'But we didn't find a body.'

'You couldn't find a shop in that rubble.'

'I'm just saying…'

'Please Covo, just drop it. I know... I know you don't want to believe she's dead, none of us do, but we don't have a choice, okay?'

'It still... it still might be worth calling SK and Jay,' now it's was Duke's turn to give an edgy cough. 'I mean, they were her friends too, weren't they? And even if they weren't, they are our friends.'

'I don't want to see them right now,' Joey shook his head. 'I don't want to be reminded that, for everything I can do, I can't bring people back to life.'

'It doesn't seem fair.'

'Life isn't fair.'

'When did you become so mature?' Duke's face filled with a sad smirk.

'Probably about the same time I became a father,' he gave a muted half laugh.

'Has anyone called Yugi yet?'

'His phone was busy. Besides, the only time he met her, he was being controlled by the evil future Mokuba and he hates to be reminded about anything connected to the lead up to... you know what.'

'Yeah, I guess you're right.'

'How do you think the girls are doing?' Covo's gaze turned towards the door.

'Worse than us by the sounds of it,' Joey's eyes followed Covo's gaze, 'but then they were all close to Nayta in the end.'

'I was so happy this morning,' he sighed, 'but now I just feel guilty. Guilty that I'm alive and she's not.'

'I know what you mean.'

'It's not like it was anyone's fault,' Duke sighed.

'That's not…' he shook his head. 'It doesn't matter.'

'So do they know how the fire started?'

'No,' he shook his head again, 'and we're nation of children,' he blinked the tears back from his eyes, 'it took us long enough to cope with that, how do we learn to cope with something like this?'

'I'm sure you'll find a way.'

'This is the first death we've had,' he carefully lowered Crovell back to the floor.

'I know.'

'We've only been awakened for a little under two years. I've only just gotten used to being a leader and a father. It's too soon. People shouldn't die yet, it's too soon.'

Angrily Joey slammed his fists against the side of the crib, causing Jo to wake up crying. Startled, he instantly scoped her into his arms and tried to comfort her. As he did this, Duke suddenly found his attention focussing on her older brother, who had crawled back towards his toy blocks and had begun arranging them into neat piles of three.

'Three,' Crovell's eyes lifted to meet with his as he moved the blocks L, A and T into a pyramid in front of him. 'Three.'

* * *

They'd only been watching what was happening on Sil because Jay was bored; it wasn't something they would have done normally. That's why they weren't able to interfere unless one or more of the Mistresses called them in to help. SK hated that clause with every single fibre of his being. When the fire had died down and rumours of Nayta's death had begun to circulate in the world below him, Jay's face had gone deathly pale and he'd run off without saying a word.

SK knew from his reaction to the death of the previous Mistresses' Guardians, just how hard Jay took the loss of his friends, so SK gave him the respect he deserved by not chasing after him. Instead he just sat there keeping an eye on his friends on Sil, ready to jump into action if they needed him for anything.

'Late last night, before we went to bed. Mrs O'Leary lit a lantern in the shed. The cow knocked it over, winked an eye at her and said. It'll be a hot time, in the old town, tonight. Fire! Fire! Fire!' The sound of Jay's voice cut through the room like a knife, grating on every single one of SK's nerves despite its almost mournful tone.

'That's in low taste Jay, even for you,' he shot him a look, 'I thought you actually cared about Nayta.'

'Late last night, before we went to bed. Mrs O'Leary lit a lantern in the shed. The cow knocked it over, winked an eye at her and said. It'll be a hot time, in the old town, tonight. Fire! Fire! Fire!'

'Jay, I'm serious.'

'Late last night, before we went to bed. Mrs O'Leary lit a lantern in the shed. The cow knocked it over, winked an eye at her and said. It'll be a hot time, in the old town, tonight. Fire! Fire! Fire!'

'Jay, if you don't stop it right now I'll…'

'Good, you're angry at me,' Jay suddenly took hold of him by the shoulders and forced him to meet his gaze, 'I want you to remember that feeling.'

'What's going on?' SK's tongue skated across his lips as he frowned at him.

'What makes you think anything's going on?' Jay's laugh came out sounding slightly hysterical.

'You're acting really weird,' he pulled away from him. 'What happened? Where did you go?'

'I went to see Dee,' he shrugged, 'just like any other normal Nethher Herin would in these circumstances.'

'Are you saying I'm not a normal Nethher Herin?' SK's tongue skated across his lips again. 'Just because I have a different way of coping with death than you do...'

'You don't cope with death,' he laughed and shook his head again. 'You've never coped with death and that's exactly why they knew you wouldn't come with me.'

'Why who knew?'

'Dayena, Arrena and Mov,' Jay half turned away from him, 'they were all there waiting for me when I ran to find out if Nayta was really...' he cut himself off. 'They knew... they knew I would react in the same way any normal Nethher Herin would act and you wouldn't, because you don't accept death and I do.'

'So something has happened then? Should we go warn the Mistresses...?'

'No,' his voice was as blunt as it was muted, 'they don't need to know right now.'

'Okay, so...'

'So?' Jay lifted his gaze to meet with SK's.

'Are you going to tell me what they said or not?' His tongue skated across his lips for a third time.

'SK,' Jay placed his hands on his shoulders again and stared searchingly into his eyes, 'we've become friends, haven't we? I mean, I know you don't completely trust me, but... we are friends, right? Good friends?'

'Yeah, I guess,' SK frowned.

'You would... I mean, if I...' he gave a strange almost sob like laugh and turned his head away. 'I'm sorry.'

'Sorry for what?'

Jay pulled himself away, placed a hand over his mouth and shook his head. For a moment there was silence then he gave a strange choked sounding laugh and shrugged.

'I'm sorry,' he began backing out of the room, 'I'm really, really sorry. You're a good Helper, you know that? You're special; everyone knows it. You don't need me, at least not like this.'

'Jay...?'

'Late last night, before we went to bed. Mrs O'Leary lit a lantern in the shed. The cow knocked it over, winked an eye at her and said. It'll be a hot time, in the old town, tonight. Fire! Fire! Fire!' Jay's voice sounded more than a little choked.

'Jay what's the matter? What's wrong with you?' SK took several steps towards him. 'Why are you acting like this?'

Jay went to say something, then simply shook his head, turned and began walking out of the room.

'Late last night, before we went to bed. Mrs O'Leary lit a lantern in the shed. The cow knocked it over, winked an eye at her and said. It'll be a hot time, in the old town, tonight. Fire! Fire! Fire!'


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

In the end she hadn't been able to face Yugi, but perhaps that was for the best and, after a painful heart to heart with her mother, both she and Téa had agreed this too was also for the best. But now she stood staring up at the face of the friendly looking clinic, she wasn't so sure. A huge part of her wished she'd allowed her mother to come with her rather than just coming by afterwards to pick her up, because she was too afraid to go in on her own.

'You alright love?' A husky voice asked from behind her making her start.

Turning, she saw a tall, dark haired guy, watching her intently.

'I've been better.'

'Well if you're thinking of going in there,' he indicated to the clinic behind her, 'I think I can understand,' he pulled a cigarette out of the box in his pocket and lit it. 'So you from round here?'

'Yeah,' she nodded.

'Got a boyfriend,' he smirked.

'Yeah,' she gave a half laugh, 'but I think you already knew that.'

'True,' he grinned, 'but it still doesn't hurt to ask,' he took a drag on his cigarette and slowly exhaled. 'So what's your name?'

'Téa.'

'Nice name, kind of like tea, but with an accent. So, does your boyfriend know you're here?'

'No.'

'Does he know about your…?'

'No.'

'So you what, plan to get rid of it without telling him?'

'It's for the best,' she smiled sadly.

'Is that so,' he pressed his lips together. 'Any reason?'

'I'm too young. We both are. Neither of us are ready for this and I just know... I know he'll... I mean, he's a nice guy and everything but... Well we haven't been together that long and...'

'I understand,' he held a hand up to silence her. 'So, what do you say you let me take care of it for you?'

'What...?'

Before she had a chance to finish her sentence, pain erupted throughout her body originating from the back of her neck. Black dots quickly appeared in her vision and within minutes everything fell into darkness.

* * *

'Any luck?'

Mokuba shook his head and Tristan gave an almost depressed sigh. The three of them had been searching for over two hours now and not one of them had caught so much as a glimpse of Piper. It felt wrong. Everything about the situation felt wrong and he couldn't stand it. Piper was an evil he needed to eradicate from Kaiba's life and the second she turned up again that's exactly what he would do.

'I hate her Mokuba,' he gritted his teeth, 'I really, really hate her. She's done a lot of crap over the last six months and I have finally lost my patience with her. I will not allow her to keep existing if this is how she treats Seto.'

'Don't you think you're overreacting just a little Tristan,' Mokuba pulled a face, 'I mean, it's not like she hasn't run off like this before.'

Tristan glared at him, shook his head and said nothing. What could he say? There was no way he could explain to Mokuba how and why his dislike for her had tipped over into hatred. Not because he wouldn't understand, but there was just no way he wanted Mokuba to know. Even the thought of it made his whole being cringe with disgust.

'What should we do?' Serenity broke the tense silence. 'Keep looking or…?'

'We'll go home and wait,' Mokuba sighed, 'she'll come back eventually; she has to.'

'And when she does...' Tristan gritted his teeth, 'when she does I will kill her.'

* * *

With their energy well and truly spent, the four of them just sat there staring at nothing, wondering what to do next. Mai sighed heavily, her mournful gaze focused blankly on the floor below her. She wanted someone to speak or move or do something, but she didn't want to be the one to do it. As the time slowly drifted away around them, the quiet sound of music reached Mai's ears. It took her a few seconds to realise the sorrowful melody originated from nearby.

'Ce ce ce may, ce may, ce a-a-a. Ce ce ce may, ce may ce a-a-a. Ce a-a-a. Ce a-a-a. Ce a-a-a. Ce a-a-a. Ce a-a-a. Ce a-a-a. Ce a-a-a. Ce a-a-a.'

As the sad notes of the simple a cappella tune grew more confident, Mai's eyes stared questioningly around the room. To her surprise the musicians turned out to be Catilin, Ahna and Korin, each girl harmonising in natural syncopation with the other two. The meaningless words they sang melted together beautifully, with their voices taking on an almost string instrument like quality. This was Zent, the Silkoneon and Odraian equivalent to choir music, and Mai had only ever heard it once before; at her wedding, less than three months ago.

Of course the tunes she heard then were of a more jovial nature to the one being sung now, but the beauty hadn't been lost. Taking a deep, jagged breath in, she closed her eyes and allowed their sorrowful music wash over her. This was what they needed. This did for them what no words ever could. It brought them together on a level which superseded their grief. It was cleansing. It was the combined notes of their tears. As if each drop which had rolled its way down their cheeks, had weaved themselves into this haunting melody.

A sad smile slid across her lips as she twisted the gold band on her left index finger. In a community where she was an outsider, Nayta had made her feel welcomed. She was a true friend and it was hard to believe she was really gone.

The singing stopped and Mai opened her eyes again.

'That was beautiful,' her voice was dry and slightly mute.

'Zent always is,' a small smile flittered across Catilin's lips, 'because Zent is the essence of music and comes from a depth of human spirit that no one can really control.'

'Oh don't be so romantic about it,' Ahna shook her head. 'People are always too romantic about Zent, when there's no need to be.'

'I think there's need to be,' Mai lowered her gaze.

There were a few moments of silence, before Ahna slowly rose to her feet.

'Think the guys are doing much better than us?'

'If I know Covo half as well as I think I do, he'll be hurting a lot worse than he'll ever admit,' Korin gave a dull half laugh. 'He likes to be the strong one.'

'I know,' Ahna's face filled with a small smile, 'he likes to protect people, rather than let people protect him.'

'I think that's true of all our guys,' Mai sniffed.

'I need Jay,' Catilin's voice was so small Mai couldn't be totally sure she'd spoken.

'What did you say?' Korin frowned at her.

'Nothing,' she shook her head, 'I didn't say anything.'

'Do you think we should join them now?' Mai turned her gaze towards the door. 'I mean, I…' she fell silent.

'I think we all know what you mean Mai,' Ahna gave a slight laugh. 'And yeah, I think we should join them now.'


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

Yugi was worried; Téa wasn't answering her phone again. This was the third day in a row she appeared to be ignoring him and he didn't know why. Setting off in the direction of her house he dialled her number again, hoping she would pick up this time as she always eventually did.

'Come on, come on,' he muttered as he rounded the corner into the alleyway which served as a shortcut, 'pick up already.'

He was less than five steps into the alleyway when the notes of a familiar ringtone reached him from somewhere nearby. Lowering the phone from his ear, he stood stock still and listened intensely. There was no denying it; it was defiantly her ringtone. He hung up and, just as he'd expected, the cheerful music automatically stopped. Hitting the redial, he waited for the tune to start up again, determined to hunt it to its source.

The melody led him to two black clad refuge bins. Flipping the lid on one of them, he peaked inside. The ringtone became louder. Placing his own phone in his pocket, he began digging around in the garbage until he spotted the familiar pink cased phone he knew belonged to Téa. His heart pounded hard in his chest as he pulled it out; the name on the still ringing screen was his own. Swallowing hard he hung up both phones before staring in disbelief at Téa's.

'SK,' the word burst its way out of him, 'SK get here right now.'

In the blink of an eye, the Mistresses' Helper appeared beside him, with an already worried look upon his face.

'You okay?' SK studied him for a moment as his tongue glanced across his lips.

'Téa's been kidnapped.'

'What?'

'You heard me.'

'Are you sure?'

'I just found this,' Yugi held up her phone.

SK frowned for a moment, before taking it off him.

'Are you sure it's hers?'

'Certain.'

'Maybe she got a new phone and…'

'This is her new phone,' Yugi cut him off. 'Didn't you hear me SK, Téa's been kidnapped.'

'I heard you; I just have to run through all other possibilities first.'

'There are no other possibilities.'

'Alright, alright,' his tongue glanced over his lips again, 'but why would someone want to kidnap her?'

'Maybe it has something to do with me.'

'Maybe,' he pressed his lips together before giving a heavy sigh, 'but this really couldn't have come at a worse time.'

'What do you mean?'

'I mean…' he lowered his gaze. 'I mean, Nayta died today.'

'What? How?'

'In a fire.'

'Why didn't Joey call me?'

'They're grieving right now, none of them are thinking particularly clearly. Even Jay's seriously cut up about it or at least I'm hoping that's the reason he's acting the way he has been.'

'What do you mean?'

'It doesn't matter. The point is Nayta is dead and everyone's a little... distracted right now. As much as I know you probably want a proper search party organised the truth is; it's just going to be you and me.'

'Are you sure you're going to be okay to help me?' Yugi studied him for a moment. 'I mean, you and Nayta got on pretty well, didn't you?'

'We were more acquaintances than friends,' he licked his lips, 'Jay was the one who got close to her. And, yeah, I am feeling more than a little... you know about her dying, but I'm the Mistresses' Helper; it's my job to help you guys out in whatever way you need when you need it. I don't get to decide whether or not I'm emotionally up to the job.'

'Okay, if you're sure.'

'Would you rather conduct this search on your own?'

'No.'

'Then I'm sure Yugi,' a forced smile appeared on his face as his tongue once again passed across his lips, 'I will help you look for Téa, whilst the others concentrate on their grief.'

* * *

Duke had been watching Crovell intensely as the infant continued to move his alphabet blocks into curious piles of three. Every now and then his eyes would drift up from his work to his Daiosen, as if to say, _come on, why aren't you getting this yet?_

'Three,' the baby repeated his almost squeaky statement.

'Three what?' Duke kept his voice low, not wanting the others to overhear.

'Three,' he pushed the L, A and T blocks forward.

'Three letters?'

Crovell sighed and shot him an un-amused look. Communication between him and Duke had become more and more difficult since he started experimenting with speech. It appeared that the more the infant's speech developed, the less he was willing to rely upon the unspoken bond the pair shared in order to get his message across.

'Three,' he tried again, 'three, three, three.'

'Three... people?' Duke ventured.

'Three,' a look of relief appeared to wash across Crovell's face as he pushed the blocks forward again.

'Three people whose names begin with L, A and T?'

'Three,' he clapped.

Duke was just about to try and find out if they were three guys, three girls or a mix, when Catilin and the others entered. Catilin headed straight for him, sitting down next to him and curling sadly into his arms.

'Hey,' he greeting as warmly as he could manage, 'you okay?'

'Sad...' her voice was quiet and drained.

Gently he kissed her forehead and tightened his grip on her. He then rested his head on hers as his eyes returned to Crovell, who'd been indignantly picked up by his mother. Duke gave an almost involuntary sigh; it looked as though Crovell's message was going to have to wait. Turning his attention back to Catilin, he listened to the steady sound of her breathing.

'Eventually everything returns to the Light,' her voice was low and delicate. 'I am the Light; so eventually everything returns to me. Do you... do you think she's returned?'

'Huh?'

'Do you think she's returned to the Light?'

'I don't know.'

'We should talk to Jay. He'd know. He always knows,' she curled herself into Duke. 'I'm gonna miss her.'

'I know.'

'It's not fair. She was alive this morning. I saw her. How can she be alive this morning and not alive now? It's not fair.'

'It'll be alright,' he lightly stroked her hair.

'How?'

'Everything returns to the Light, remember?'

'It's not the same,' she snuggled her head into his chest. 'Light is not life and light is not living. It's just light.'

'Maybe,' he kissed the top of her head again, 'but at least it's not darkness.'


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11 **

Two down, one to go. A slim smile spread its way across her face, as she walked down the near deserted street. Things were going to plan and, as long as nothing happened to delay her, she only had a few more days to wait. A familiar face on the other side of the road caught her attention. He was staring at her intensely, as though he could see right through her new skin to her very core. But that was impossible; there was no way he could know who she was.

Ignoring him, she lowered her head and picked up her pace. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed he was following; matching her step for step. She was about to pick up her pace again, when she suddenly found herself colliding into someone. She looked up to find that he was now blocking her path.

'London's burning. London's burning. Fetch the engine. Fetch the engine. Fire. Fire. Fire. Fire. Poor on water. Poor on water.' His voice had a light and almost taunting intonation to it.

'What do you want?' She glared at him.

'London's burning. London's burning. Fetch the engine. Fetch the engine. Fire. Fire. Fire. Fire. Poor on water. Poor on water.'

'I asked you a question freak, answer me.'

'Mary, Mary quite contrary, how does your garden grow? With silver bells and cockle shells and pretty maids all in a row,' he wagged a finger at her.

'You're mad,' she shot him a dirty look, 'or drunk or…'

'Georgie Porgie, pudding and pie,' he cut her off. 'Kissed the girls and made them cry. But when the boys came out to play, Gorgy Porgy ran away.'

'I don't have time for this,' she rolled her eyes, 'so why don't you run along back to whatever insane asylum you busted out of.'

'Hickory Dickory Dock. The mouse ran up the clock. The clock struck one. And down he run. Hickory Dickory Dock.'

'Freak,' she rolled her eyes again as she pushed past him.

'Three blind mice. Three blind mice.' His words were a cross between playful and taunting as he pursued her. 'See how they run. See how they run. They all ran after the farmer's wife, who cut off their tails with a carving knife. Did you ever see such a thing in your life, as three blind mice?'

'Just what the hell is your problem?' She gritted her teeth as she picked up her pace.

'See saw Margery Daw, Johny shall have a new master. He shall earn, but a penny a day. Because he can't work any faster.'

'You get your jollies from annoying people, don't you?'

'Late last night, before we went to bed. Mrs O'Leary lit a lantern in the shed. The cow knocked it over, winked an eye at her and said. It'll be a hot time, in the old town, tonight. Fire! Fire! Fire!'

'I'm going to take that as a yes,' she stopped. 'Okay, so what do you want?'

'Sink we go, down below. Live or die, that's the high. Nobody knows, because nobody cares. But one, two, three, that's all we share.'

'How...?' She felt her heart skip a beat. 'Who told you that rhyme? Where did you hear it from?'

'Simple Simon, met a pieman, going to the fair. Says Simple Simon, to the pie man, let me taste your wares. Says the pieman to Simple Simon, show me first your penny. Says Simple Simon to the pieman, indeed I have not any.'

'This... this is a spell, isn't it? You've put a spell on yourself, haven't you?' She gritted her teeth. 'Why? Why would you do that?'

'Hush little baby don't say a word. Mamma's gonna buy you a mocking bird.'

'So you know,' her hands balled into fists, 'who told you?'

A sly grin spread across his face as he glanced upwards for a moment.

'I might have known that pesky little goddess would interfere,' she grunted in disgust, 'she just couldn't keep her nose out, could she. So what exactly is she trying to prove with this little stunt, huh? Because last I checked irritation and intimidation were two completely different things. And you definitely don't intimidate me with these little nursery rhymes of yours. So why don't you go running back to your little goddess friend and let her know there's nothing she can do to stop me now.'

'Cry baby bunting, daddy's gone a hunting. Gone to fetch a rabbit's skin, to wrap the baby bunting in.'

'Pathetic,' she rolled her eyes, 'a pathetic spell for a pathetic man child,' she turned and started walking away.

'A light born from shadows, a shadow born from light,' his voice followed after her. 'What once was day will now be night. What once was night will now be day. And all the shadows shall run away. The time has come, the time has passed. What once was first shall now be last. What once was last shall now be first. And all the heavens shall take the Earth. And I that once before you stood shall know you through your cloak and hood. You may hide, but never far. And I who know you, know who you are. For you are the shadow and I am the light. Though we may quarrel, we'll never fight. For I who know you, shall know you then. Chaosa, Chaosa, Chaosen.'

* * *

Serenity sat on the pale blue couch watching Tristan, as he stared moodily out of the bay window. When she'd first met him, he and Duke had fought over her. Even though she'd found it all very flattering, she hadn't really been interested in either of them. Now, nearly two years later, Duke had hooked up with Catilin and Tristan was living with Kaiba. And even though the second was defiantly more bizarre than the first, both meant they were no longer interested in her.

She sighed heavily, it wasn't that she was jealous exactly, but she did miss being the centre of their attention. And, when she thought about it, it was just another way in which she felt left out. After all, her brother was married and Yugi was with Téa; who did she have? Just as she was thinking this, Mokuba entered the room and gave an exasperated sigh.

'Well?' Tristan didn't even bother to glance round at him.

'Téa's mum said she's been out for most of the day and there was no reply when I tried her mobile. Duke's still on Sil and I couldn't get hold of Yugi either.'

'And what about _her_ phone?'

'Switched off.'

'Typical,' he folded his arms.

'Do you think we should go out looking again?'

Tristan shrugged, shook his head and said nothing.

'Look, you know what she can be like,' Mokuba gave a nervous cough, 'she likes to make us worry because it means we're paying attention to her. And you know as well as I do she always acts up more when she's... you know,' he twisted his gaze away. 'She'll be back when she thinks she's going to get the best reaction out of us.'

'I hate her,' he turned towards them. 'This is exactly why I hate her. She doesn't give a damn about anyone but herself. And I know for a fact the only pleasure she gets is in torturing Seto. I hate her. I hope she's miserable right now.'

'Isn't that a little harsh?' Serenity stared at him.

'If anything it's not harsh enough,' Tristan gritted his teeth, 'she's nothing but trouble.'

'Why? I mean, why do you think that? What is it she's done which has upset you so much?'

'It's personal,' he turned his head away.

'Personal in what way? Maybe if we understood her a little more we could...'

'I am _not_ telling you what it is,' he glared at her. 'You wouldn't gain anything from knowing, neither of you would. So just stop asking about it already; it's none of your damn business.'

'I... I'm sorry; I didn't mean to upset you.'

'You're not the one who's upset me Serenity,' he turned away from her. 'I just can't believe Piper is pulling _another_ stunt like this. She's such a manipulative, advantage taking whore of a leech and the day I get her out of Seto's life for good will be the happiest day of my life.'

For a few moments Serenity just stared at him in silence. She could see he was visibly agitated and something told her his agitation was making him sound a lot harsher about the situation than maybe he really was. But that didn't mean his sentiments didn't come from a genuine place inside of him. It was pretty obvious whatever it was Piper had done to upset him was unforgivable as far as he was concerned. So much so Serenity suddenly found herself unsure she wanted to know what it was.

'Why is she doing this to us,' Tristan's voice was smaller and a lot more pained sounding than the last time he spoke.

'Because she wants to live Tristan,' Mokuba sighed, 'what other reason could there be?'


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

They'd been searching for what felt like hours now and still there was no sign of Téa. Yugi was frantic and SK's own neuroses were going into hyper-drive.

'That was Téa's mother on the phone,' Yugi chewed on his bottom lip, 'apparently she was supposed to pick her up after a doctor's appointment, but she wasn't there. I told her about where I'd found Téa's phone and she wants to call the police. This isn't looking good, maybe it's time we got the others involved.'

'It's too soon,' SK shook his head, 'they need time to grieve, but maybe calling the police in on this is a good idea.'

'I don't think we can stop her mum from doing so even if we wanted to,' Yugi sighed, 'but _we_ can't work with the police.'

'Why not?' SK's tongue skated across his lips.

'Oh I don't know, maybe because you're dead,' Yugi cocked an eyebrow at him.

'As if they'd be able to tell that just from looking at me,' he rolled his eyes and licked his lips again.

'We can't take the chance,' he shook his head, before his eyes darted around the street they were in. 'Where is she SK? Why can't we find her?

'I don't know,' SK sighed, 'but she'll turn up eventually.'

'You mean when it's too late to do anything to save her,' Yugi's hands balled into fists.

'Yugi... don't...'

'SK I mean it, what if something really bad has happened or is happening to her. What if she's being tortured or murdered or worse?'

'There are worse things than being murdered?' He cocked an eyebrow as his tongue darted back and forth across his lips.

'You know what I mean.'

'Yeah,' he turned his gaze away, 'I know.'

'We have to keep looking.'

He was just about to agree with him when he suddenly found himself stood in a large, white chamber, similar to the one the three Mistresses used to use. Only instead of having a large table at one end, the back wall was dotted with shelves containing various old strategy games, like chess and drafts. Just in front of this were two podiums connected by a sheet of glass which served as a table to an ordinary pack of playing cards. There was something vaguely familiar about the chamber, if only he could put his finger onto what...

'Ah SK,' a voice sounded from behind him, 'glad you could be so prompt.'

Turning, he saw a beautiful, dark haired maiden in a black Grecian style tunic. The warmth of the smile she wore on her face made her eyes sparkle in a way which lit up her whole face. After staring at her in confusion for a few moments, he figured out who she was.

'Liekta Dayena?'

'Dee, please,' she waved her hand dismissively, 'I've never been one to stand on formality and you shouldn't either.'

'Why have you brought me here?'

'Because you've been transferred.'

'What?'

'Congratulations,' she smiled as his usual outfit transformed into a black Roman style tunic, 'you're working for me now.'

'What?' He chocked. 'Since when?'

'Since about five minutes ago.'

'But... but why?'

'Because a spot in my council has become available and the Mistresses only traditionally have one Helper, so I figured they could spare the other.'

'So why not pick Jay. I mean, you know him really well, don't you?'

'Because he's accepted his death.'

'What?' SK frowned. 'What's that supposed to mean? Do the Mistresses know you've done this?'

'No.'

'Then I'm not working for you. It's not an official transfer unless they've agreed to it,' his tongue skated back and forth across his lips. 'And besides, I was pre-destined for the Mistresses Council; you're not allowed to just take me away from it.'

'Oh no see that's where you're wrong,' Dayena folded her arms, 'you're a Nethher Herin who hasn't accepted their death, which means you've never officially left my jurisdiction.'

'What?' SK choked out the word.

'The dead remain in my jurisdiction until they have completely accepted their deaths,' she smirked, 'and if I think someone needs a little help accepting their deceased status then it is well within my rights to take said person out of whatever official position they've been posted in and place them into an open spot in my council. It is a rule which supersedes all other rules and one the Mistresses cannot argue with. If they require you back before such a time as I deem you ready, then all three of them need to agree to the transfer.'

'You can't be serious,' SK found himself gawking at her.

'Oh I am more than serious SK,' she lightly folded her arms, 'so let me be the first to officially welcome you to my council.'

* * *

Sighing heavily, Crovell stared down at the toy blocks his mother had taken him from. He understood she needed to be comforted, but his Daiosen was just beginning to understand him. And that, in his mind, was far more important. Despite his superior intellect, it had still taken him nearly three weeks to work out what the letters on his alphabet blocks meant. It might have been impressive for a normal child of his age, but for him it had been frustratingly slow.

His mind felt trapped by the limitations of his physical development. If it were up to him, he'd do away with infancy and jump straight onto teenagehood. After all, they seemed to have the most fun. Sighing again, his eyes drifted up to Duke. His arms were wrapt lovingly around the Silkoneon queen, as he whispered words of comfort to her. Rolling his eyes, Crovell knew even if he were to use his powers to move the blocks, his Daiosen would be far too distracted to pay any attention.

A stifled cry from behind him half made him start.

'Jo,' he turned his head in her direction.

Not that it made a difference, he still couldn't see her, still his sensitive ears managed to pick up on his sister's gurgled reply. He knew, like him, she was more intelligent than most children their age, but he still couldn't work out if she was more or less intelligent than he was. Unlike him, she hadn't been inclined to use her powers yet. Nor had she chosen a Daiosen. This annoyed him, because he'd wanted so much for her to be his equal, like her future self had been with his Jo. She, however, seemed to prefer to act as any other child her age would. A large part of him hated that and he was determined to change it.

'Jo,' he squeaked out the words, 'Jo, three.'

He turned his head back towards the blocks and waited. Nothing happened.

'Jo, three.'

She made a gurgled noise of protest and still nothing happened. An annoyed scowl creased across his face. How could he take his sister's position seriously when she insisted on acting like a baby?

'Jo, three.'

Still nothing. Now convinced his sister wasn't worth this kind of effort, he used his own powers to send one of the blocks flying across the room in her vague direction.

'What the…?' He heard his father cry.

Guessing that's who the block had hit, he rolled his eyes and waited for someone to tell him off. To his surprise, however, as his mother turned round to see what had happened, finally giving him clear view of his sister, he spotted the block he'd sent flying suspended in mid air; spinning slowly as if on a string. His sister gurgled again and the block floated gently towards him. Reaching out a hand towards it, he waited for it to be close enough for him to touch before scoping it into his arms. Around him he could hear the voices of their elders talking in wonder.

'Was that Crovell or Jo?' His father sounded mystified.

'I think it was Jo,' his mother laughed in amazement.

'Great and here was me hoping I wouldn't have to worry about her. One supercharged baby is bad enough, but two?' He sighed. 'Oh well.'

Ignoring them, Crovell stared down at the block in his arms; it was the one with a hook attached to a horizontal line. A slim, babyish smile spread across Crovell's face, the letter he'd thrown at his sister was a J.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

Taking her beautiful baby daughter off of her husband, Mai gave a heavy sigh. Of all the days for Jo to start using her powers, why did it have to be one where she felt completely unable to appreciate it.

'Jo,' she heard Crovell squeak happily; clearly he'd been impressed by his sister's display.

In her arms, she felt her daughter gently snuggle in closer. Staring down at her, a sad smile appeared on her face and her eyes began to burn with tears. She hadn't wanted Jo to be able to use her powers yet, because that put her in danger. All she wanted was for her daughter to be safe.

'Are you okay Mai?' Joey placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

'I'm fine,' she shook her head, 'I just wish she'd picked a better day to do that.'

'I know what you mean,' he sighed, 'but maybe in her eyes today was the perfect day to show us she knew how to use her powers. To take our minds off…'

'Maybe, but I still wish she'd waited.'

'Well at least it's just the two of them.'

'For now.'

'What do you mean, for now?'

'I mean...' she hesitated. 'I mean that its... its only two of them at the moment, but it's not always going to be like that.'

'How do you know?'

'Your son told us; when he came back from the future, remember?' She shifted her gaze away. 'Or had you forgotten?'

'I very clearly remember never having the opportunity to talk to the future Crovell.'

'Yeah, but I told you about what I saw when I went into that hell future,' Mai smiled tightly, 'about Covo and Ahna's daughters.'

'Oh yeah,' he folded his arms, 'and here was me worrying you might be pregnant again or something.'

'Why would you be worried about that?' She laughed nervously as she turned away from him to hide the fact all colour was draining from her face.

'Don't get me wrong, it's not that I don't want another one, eventually; but I want to be at least twenty before I become a father again.'

'Really?' Mai tried to keep her voice as level as possible.

'Yeah, I think Jo and Crovell should be a little older before I have to worry about another power charged infant.'

'That's if you can even have any more kids,' Duke suddenly appeared beside them. 'I mean, you are supposed to be dead, so it's reasonable to assume you're probably not meant to have any more. It could throw off the balance of the multiverse or something.'

'Geez, thanks for your insight Duke.'

Suddenly feeling more than a little sick, Mai quickly lay Jo down in her crib and left the room. She knew they weren't exactly ready to have another child and she defiantly shared Duke's fears about Joey not technically being allowed to have any more kids, but that didn't mean she didn't want the baby she suspected she was carrying. Without a word to the other, she hurried out of the Southern Palace. She needed air. She needed to think. And as she walked the now familiar streets of Sil, she felt herself being automatically led towards the charred remains of Nayta's shop.

Not really wanting to see it, she turned down an unfamiliar alleyway. Halfway along, she stopped and leant heavily against one of the walls. Rubbing her face with her hands, she squeezed her eyes shut.

'You alright?' The voice made her jump.

Looking up, she saw a tall, dark haired guy, wearing a black leather jacket. His intense blue green eyes were focused solely on her.

'Yeah,' she shook her head dismissively, 'it's just been a long day.'

'I see,' he slipped a cigarette out of his pocket and placed it between his lips. 'You mind?'

'Go ahead.'

Lighting up, he took a single drag, before focussing his attention back on her and blowing out a thin billow of smoke.

'So you from round here?'

'Southern Palace.'

'Lutoni's girl,' he smirked, 'guess there's no point in asking whether or not, you have a boyfriend then.'

'Yeah, I'm married,' a wistful smile pulled at her lips.

'Happily?'

'Of course.'

'So what's your name?'

'Mai Lutoni-Wheeler,' a genuine grin replaced the smile. 'Mrs Mai Lutoni-Wheeler.'

'Nice name. Got any kids?'

'Just the one. Jo. Three months.'

'Plans to have any more?'

'Hmm…'

'What's wrong? You want more, but your husband doesn't?'

'Not exactly. He wants more, just not yet.'

'Any reason?'

'Well he already has a son from a previous relationship, who's not much older.'

'Ah, the infamous Crovell Lutoni.'

'You've heard of him?'

'Of course, he's the first Chaosen born to a new generation.'

'What?' Mai felt her heart leap in fear; nobody outside of their tight little group knew about that.

'I said he was the first Silkoneon born to a new generation,' he took another drag on his cigarette. 'Are you alright, you've gone awfully pale.'

'I... I'm fine; I just thought you said something else.'

'You shouldn't trust everything you hear Mai.'

'I guess not,' she bit her lip nervously. 'So what's your name?'

'Sorry,' he gave a strange half laugh, 'but I prefer to ask the questions, rather than answer them.'

'Even about your own name?' She frowned.

'Especially about my own name,' he smirked. 'I guess you could say I'm a very private person.'

'I see.'

'I'm not so sure you do,' he took another, more thoughtful, drag on his cigarette. 'I like you Mai, so I'm going to level with you. What's about to happen is going to hurt, a lot. But if I'm ever going to fulfil my destiny, then you are going to have to suffer.'

'What... what are you talking about?'

'I'm talking about this.'

Almost as soon as he'd finished speaking, she felt a sharp pain emanating from the back of her neck causing her to fall onto all fours.

'Why... why are you doing this to me?'

'Oh come now Mai, I've already told you I don't answer questions,' he knelt down beside her and used his hand to force her to meet his gaze. 'But I will tell you one thing, in about five minutes, you will pass out.'


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

Yugi couldn't understand what had happened to SK. One minute he'd been helping him search for Téa, the next he'd disappeared and was refusing to answer his calls. It just wasn't like him; something was up, but he couldn't figure out what.

'SK,' he tried raising his voice for what felt like the millionth time, 'SK get here now!'

As if he'd suddenly hit the right frequency, the older guy appeared out of nowhere, dressed in a jet black Romanesque tunic. His tongue then skated across his lips several times as he glanced nervously about.

'SK what on Earth are you wearing?'

'Shh,' he hissed, 'she can't know I'm here.'

'She?'

'Dee, I mean Liekta Dayena.'

'What's going on?'

'I've been…' he gave a disgusted sigh, '_transferred_.'

'What? Why?'

'She's claiming it has something to do with me _not accepting my death_,' he rolled his eyes as his tongue passed over his lips again. 'But I get the feeling it has something to do with Jay.'

'Why?'

'I told you I thought his grief was making him act weird, right? Well the first thing it made him do was go see Dee and according to him she wasn't the only one waiting for him,' he gave a heavy sigh. 'When he came back he was acting really weird and... he said he was sorry, but he wouldn't tell me what he was sorry about. I mean, like I said, I thought it was just his grief making him act weird, but now I'm not so sure.'

'I wonder what they're up to,' Yugi turned his gaze upwards. 'Don't they understand now's not exactly the best time for this?'

'Who knows; but the sooner the three of you can get me transferred back, the better,' he licked his lips. 'The only problem right now is that Joey's still grieving over the death of Nayta; I'm sure the last thing he needs is to be stealing me back from the Lady of Death. We're better off waiting for tomorrow and I'm pretty sure I can stick this for one day.'

'But that leaves me searching for Téa on my own.'

'Well without me around you can at least join up with the police, right?'

'If only,' he shook his head, 'Téa's mum called me again just now, apparently the police won't start looking till she's been missing for twenty-four hours.'

'But what about you finding her phone in the trash like that?' SK frowned. 'Surely that indicates suspicious circumstances.'

'That's what I said and then Mrs Gardener got all weird and evasive. I think she knows something I don't and that's making the police delay their search.'

'This is just getting more and more complicated by the second,' he licked his lips again. 'Look, I know Jay's probably going to be as weird with you as he was with me earlier, but you might want to call him in to help you.'

'But that would put both of our powers down, remember?'

'I know it's not ideal, but…'

'I'll think about it.'

SK shifted from side to side for a few moments, as his gaze went edgily up towards the sky.

'I think I'm being summoned,' he licked his lips.

'Go,' Yugi nodded, 'I'll be fine.'

'Okay, but please call me if you need me and I'll do my best to get away.'

'Don't get yourself into trouble over this SK.'

'But working for the Mistresses is all about getting into trouble,' he smirked as he licked his lips again, 'and I wouldn't have it any other way.'

* * *

The second Mai had taken off, Ahna knew it had something to do with her suspected pregnancy. After all, if she was already worried about it, the conversation she'd just had to go through was more than enough to upset her further. It was just a relief the others had all jumped to the conclusion that Mai had taken off because being reminded about Joey's near death when her friend had just died had been too much for her. As they debated over whether or not they should go look for her or just wait for her to return on her own, Ahna turned her attention towards the two infants.

Crovell, who'd been placed inside the crib next to his sister, was repeatedly squeaking Jo's name, whilst happily waving the toy block she'd given him. Smiling sadly, her mind drifted back to her encounter with their older selves. As she did she felt someone tap her on the shoulder, looking up she saw Joey staring at her.

'I'm going to look for Mai,' his voice was mute, 'you mind watching Jo for me?'

'Sure,' she nodded, 'but what do you think,' she indicated towards both of his children, 'pretty cute, huh?'

'What do you expect when they have me as a father?'

'That's not what I mean,' she rolled her eyes, 'I mean their closeness.'

'I think they're too young to have a _closeness_,' he shook his head dismissively, 'all they see is another person about the same size as them.'

'I don't think so.'

'They're babies, Ahna.'

'Yeah and sometimes I think you forget just how intelligent your son is, despite being just _a baby_.'

'I don't forget,' he shrugged, 'I choose to ignore it.'

'Why?'

'Because I'm scared he's more intelligent than I am.'

'And that's a reason to ignore it?'

'It is when you just want to treat your son as a baby. I mean, intelligent or not, that's still what he is.'

'I know.'

'So as far as I'm concerned, they're too young to have a _closeness_ and the less intelligent thoughts he has, the better. I mean, he causes enough trouble as it is.'

'I know, but you can't begrudge him that.'

'I'm not begrudging him anything; I'm simply going to ignore the fact he's more intelligent than I am for a few more years.'

'How many more years?'

'Until he's at least sixteen.'

'You're terrible,' she rolled her eyes again.

'I know,' he shrugged, 'but what you going to do?'

'Weren't you going to go look for Mai?' Ahna gave a heavy sigh and turned her attention back towards the crib.

'Yeah,' his voice was filled with thoughtful tones.

'What is it?' She turned back to look at him.

'What's what?'

'There was something in your voice, what's wrong?'

'Nothing's wrong, I just…' he hesitated.

'You just what?'

'I've just got this feeling something weird's going on. I mean, first the fire, then Nayta and now Jo using her powers, that's a lot for one day.'

'I don't know,' she sighed again, 'feels like an average sort of day to me, minus Nayta… well you know.'

'I know, but I still…'

'Still what?'

'I don't know,' he shook his head again, 'I guess I'm looking for things that aren't there.'

'Probably,' she shot him a weak smile. 'So why not look for something that is there, I'm sure Mai will appreciate you going to find her.'

'Okay, see you Ahna.'

'Arenon Veronie.'


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

With winter well and truly set in, the skyline was already starting to darken when Serenity left the Kaiba's mansion. Because it was still relatively early, she'd refused Mokuba's offer to walk her back to her hotel. Instead she made her own way through the fairly busy, lamp lit streets towards her temporary home. She was almost there when a familiar figure loamed out of the darkness of the street ahead of her. For a second she came to an almost startled stop, before flashing him a friendly smile.

'Hey Jay, is everything okay?'

His eyes focused on her intensely as though he was trying to figure something out, but he said nothing.

'Jay,' she frowned curiously at him, 'you are Jay, right?'

Still he remained silent. Nervously she took several steps towards him; studying him with almost the same intensity he was studying her. There was no doubt in her mind about who he was; his face was too familiar, his dress sense to distinct.

'Jay,' she swallowed hard, 'I... I know it's you. Are you okay?' She paused for a moment to see if he'd reply; he didn't. 'Come on Jay,' she gave an edgy laugh, 'you're starting to scare me now. What's going on?'

'Mary had a little lamb,' his voice was low and melancholy, 'whose fleece was as white as snow. And everywhere that Mary went, the lamb was sure to go.'

'What's that supposed to mean?' Serenity shook her head in confusion.

'Mary had a little…' he trailed off.

For a few intensely long moments he just stared at her, before turning round and walking away.

'Jay,' she started after him in concern, 'are you okay?'

He didn't stop; if anything he picked up his pace. Strangely desperate to find out what was going on she tried to keep up with him, as he led her down a network of alleyways. Eventually, he came to a stop in front of an old, unpainted, wooden door. Sighing heavily, he glanced back towards her.

'Mary had a little lamb, whose fleece was as white as snow. And everywhere that Mary went, the lamb was sure to go. It followed her to school one day, which was against the rules. It made the children laugh and play, to see a lamb at school.'

He placed a hand against the door, pushed it open and indicated she should follow him inside. Everything in her warned her not to go in; she knew something was very wrong with this situation. In fact every instinct in her body was telling her to run away; but at the same time she got this feeling Jay needed her help and she knew in her heart she wouldn't feel right abandoning him. For what felt like an eternity she stood there debating what to do.

'Mary had a little lamb,' Jay placed a hand on her shoulder, 'whose fleece was as white as snow. And everywhere that Mary went, the lamb was sure to go.'

'Why do you keep saying that?'

He made no attempt at a verbal reply. Instead he shrugged, lowered his gaze and half turned his head away. There was something so pitiful about the way he looked which made Serenity certain he was in some kind of trouble.

'What's going on Jay,' her eyes turned towards the open doorway behind him, 'what's in there?'

Still no verbal reply, but he did lift his gaze towards her to reveal a pained, sorrowful look in his eyes. Serenity could feel her heart almost bleeding for him and all she wanted to do was find a way to help.

'Jay, please talk to me, if something bad is going on then maybe I can help. But I can't help unless you talk to me.'

'Mary had a little lamb, whose fleece was as white as snow. And everywhere that Mary went, the lamb was sure to go.'

'I... I don't understand,' she shook her head, 'what's that supposed to mean? Jay, what's...?'

Before she could finish her sentence he'd caught hold of her wrist. Almost fearfully, her eyes went up to meet his. The second their gazes locked he shamefully turned his head away from her and, without letting go of her arm, led her inside. The cellar-like room was almost bare, apart from an old fashioned, large metal sink at one end. Above this was a dusty looking mirror and in the centre of the room was a large, well used, wooden table. On top of the table was a flute shaped vile filled with a strange, gooey looking purple liquid. Letting go of her wrist, Jay made his way towards the vile. For a few long seconds he just stared at it, before picking it up and holding it towards her.

'Polly put the kettle on. Polly put the kettle on. Polly put the kettle on. We'll all have tea,' everything about his face and voice suggested he didn't really want to be doing this, but had no choice.

'You... you want me to drink it?'

He nodded.

'I don't think so,' she took a step back from him. 'Something is very wrong with this situation Jay; you know it as well as I do. I know... I know you don't want to do this... whatever it is. So why not just let me leave and get help? If you're in trouble I'm sure the others will be able to help you.'

She turned to leave, only to have the door slam violently shut in her face. Her sympathy towards Jay sparked into a mixture of anger and fear.

'What... what's going on Jay?' She spun round to face him. 'Please, if you're in trouble then just tell me. Whatever it is can't be that bad, can it? Not so bad we can't get the others in to help. Please Jay...'

'Polly put the kettle on. Polly put the kettle on. Polly put the kettle on. We'll all have tea.' Jay cut her off, taking several steps towards her as he did.

'I... I don't want to drink it. Please Jay, don't do this.'

'Polly put the kettle on. Polly put the kettle on. Polly put the kettle on. We'll all have tea.'

'No... no I don't want to. Jay I know something's not right here, please... please talk to me.'

Jay gave a heavy sigh, before lowering both his head and the vile. Again she got the strong sense he really didn't want to do this and maybe that's what made her drop her guard.

'Jay, please... please talk to me,' she took a cautious step towards him, 'what's going on?'

'Pat-a-cake, pat-a-cake, baker's man. Bake me a cake, as fast as you can. Roll it and pat it and mark with a 'B'. And put it in the oven for baby and me.' His pleading eyes lifted to meet with hers. 'Mary had little lamb, whose fleece was as white as snow. And everywhere that Mary went, the lamb was sure to go.'

'You're not making any sense,' she edged another step closer, 'just tell me what's going on.'

'Polly put the kettle on.' He held the vile out towards her. 'Polly put the kettle on. Polly put the kettle on. We'll all have tea.'

'I told you, I'm not drinking that.'

He closed his eyes again and swallowed hard. What felt like several long heartbeats passed, before Jay's eyes flicked open again. In the exact same instance they did, he charged at her, pinning her aggressively against the wall. He then forced her head back and held the vile against her lips. In response she clenched her lips together; desperately trying to turn her head away from him. But it was no good, somehow he managed to prise her lips open and place the vile between them.

The second the purple liquid touched her tongue she felt like gagging. She didn't want to swallow it. She tried so hard to keep it in her mouth long enough to break away and spit it out. But the taste was so repulsive she couldn't stand it. It was like she was caught between a rock and a hard place; Jay wasn't letting up and the taste wasn't getting any better. In the end the pressure to swallow the foul stuff was too much for her. Once she had, he finally backed off and allowed her to run full pelt towards the sink.

Leaning over it, she coughed and spluttered, wishing with everything in her to throw up. But even though she could taste the bile in her throat, nothing was fourth coming. Changing tactics she turned on the tap, lapping up the cold water, before the bitter taste of the cold liquid returned her to her former state of gagging. She felt weak beyond belief. Her head spun. She felt sick. Her eyes glanced up towards the mirror. To her horror her hair had bled to white, her eyes had drained to a milky blue and her skin was so pale the blue of her veins appeared to be taunting her.

Unsteadily she swayed backwards and as she did she felt him wrap his arms around her. After what he'd done she didn't even want him in the same room as her, let alone touching her. But she was too weak to resist. Too weak to move. Too weak to cry. Too weak to do anything but flop lifelessly against him. She knew she was dying and there was absolutely nothing she could do, but hang like a rag doll in his arms and listen to him mournfully sing.

'Mary had a little lamb, little lamb, little lamb. Mary had a little lamb, whose fleece was as white as snow. And everywhere that Mary went, Mary went, Mary went. And everywhere that Mary went, the lamb was sure to go.'


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

It was getting late and rain was once again pounding hard against the dark glass of the window. Staring out at the bleakness, Joey bit his lip anxiously. It had been nearly five hours since Mai had disappeared and he couldn't find her anywhere. Okay, he understood she needed to be on her own for a while, but he still couldn't understand what had happened to her. Behind him he heard the gentle rustling of a sheet as Jo turned over in her sleep. She didn't seem in the least bit concerned that her mother was missing, which wasn't as reassuring as Joey might have liked it to have been. Because it was just another reminder something wasn't right; Mai was a good mother, even grief shouldn't have kept her away from her daughter like this.

Sighing heavily, he turned his attention back to the stormy night outside. He didn't know what to do, but if Mai wasn't back by morning one thing was certain; something seriously bad was going on and it would be time to call in Jay and SK for help.

* * *

Tristan hadn't left the window all afternoon and even though it was now too dark and wet to see anything past the actual windowsill, he maintained his visual. With a blanket huddled around him for warmth, Mokuba watched the older boy from the couch. With each second that passed his eyes became heavier and heavier and he knew he was edging towards sleep.

'You should go to bed lus braysta,' Tristan's voice was soft and concerned, but his gaze remained on a distant unseen spot outside the window.

'I'm fine.'

'Come on now lus braysta, we both know you've only just started settling into a proper sleeping pattern; you need structure if you're going to continue making progress.'

'I'm not going to be able to sleep with Seto missing,' Mokuba's voice was low and heavy.

'You're practically asleep now.'

'No I'm not,' he felt himself snuggle into the pillow below his head, 'I wouldn't be able to talk to you if I was.'

'You're not doing anyone any good here Mokuba, go to bed. I promise I'll wake you as soon as either one of them gets back.'

'No,' the word moaned out of him, 'I want to stay here.'

'I'll carry you up to bed if I have to lus braysta.'

'No.'

'Mokuba...'

'I want to stay here,' even as he was saying it, he knew that he was drifting off to sleep, 'I can stay up.'

He heard Tristan give a stifled half laugh, followed by the sensation of someone very gently lifting him up off the couch.

'No,' he murmured, knowing full well he'd lost the battle.

It felt as though he was floating for miles, before the soft, all consuming surface of the bed met with his body and the warmth of his bed sheets were pulled over him. Despite his lucid state he still felt Tristan's eyes on him, watching him, as he drifted further and further into a state of unconsciousness. He knew then Tristan was worried about something and he wanted more than anything to stay up and talk to him about it. But it was no good. His mind and body had conspired against him and the sound of a single sorrowful sigh was the last thing he heard, before sleep completely overcame him and he was dead to the world.

* * *

Wet, cold, tired and frustrated, Yugi crashed heavily down upon his bed. His search for Téa had gotten him nowhere, receiving nothing but the onset of a devastating cold for his efforts.

'We'll find her Yugi,' the ghostly image of the Pharaoh appeared beside him. 'Don't lose faith.'

'Lose faith,' a choked and almost hysterical laugh coughed out of him, 'I am faith; it's pretty damn hard to lose yourself you know.'

'You did a pretty good impression of losing faith when Téa was in a coma.'

'She was never in a coma, Pharaoh, she was just in a really, really deep sleep.' He rolled onto his side. 'And so what if I lost faith then, it was kind of my fault you know.'

'I thought you'd worked through the issues you had with it.'

'Yeah, well…' he sighed and rolled back onto his back, 'I guess I'm just scared right now. I mean, what if for once we're not dealing with something otherworldly. What if it's just some crazed maniac and Téa's actually lying in a gutter somewhere, mutilated beyond belief.'

'I'm sure that's not what happened.'

'How do you know?'

'Because nothing we've ever faced hasn't involved some kind of dark magic and crazed, power hungry madman.'

'And what if this is the one time that it's different. I love her Pharaoh; I don't want her to die.'

'I understand.'

'No you don't, I mean, how could you; you're already dead.'

'That doesn't mean I want Téa to join me.'

'Whatever,' he rolled his eyes, 'look, can you just leave me on my own for a while.'

'If that's what you want.'

'That's what I want.'

'Okay,' and with that he vanished.

Sighing heavily, Yugi stared blankly up at the ceiling and listened to the pounding of the rain against the glass of his skylight. He felt tired, but he knew there was no way he was ever going to get any sleep. Not with Téa still missing. As he lay there for what felt like an eternity his mind played over the last few conversations he'd had with Mrs Gardener. She'd mentioned something about Téa having a doctor's appointment and then implied she'd told the police something which might have delayed them searching despite Yugi finding Téa's phone abandoned. He also thought about how strangely Téa had been acting the last few days; was she really sick and not telling him? A hundred devastating diseases made their way through Yugi's mind; each one turning his stomach cold with dread at just the thought Téa might have one of them.

'How's the search going?' The sudden appearance of SK's face above him made Yugi half jump out of his skin.

'Oh yeah, I found her a while back; that's why I'm dancing happily around my room,' he knew he was being unfairly sarcastic, but he didn't really care.

'So no sign of her then?'

'Not so much as a toenail, other than her phone of course.'

'The police still not involved?'

'No,' he shook his head, 'and I'm pretty certain now her mum's not telling me something. What if that something is the reason Téa's missing,' Yugi chewed his lip, 'what if she's dead?'

'She's not dead; I can tell you that for an absolute fact.'

'You can?'

'Err, yeah, well…' he licked his lips nervously and indicated towards his black tunic, 'there are some perks to this job.'

'Oh right,' he rolled his eyes, 'I almost forgot about that.'

'So did you call Jay like I suggested?'

'Yeah,' he forced himself into a sitting position, 'but he didn't reply.'

'Huh, that's strange,' SK licked his lips and frowned, 'because he's not up there.'

'How do you know?'

'I told you; he's been acting weird, I figured he might have ignored your calls so I wanted to let him know they were important.'

'And you couldn't find him?'

'Unless he's turned himself into a computer, I'm pretty certain he's not up there. Which brings me onto another point,' he licked his lips again, 'apparently I'm not allowed to use computers anymore. I mean, what's up with that crazy rule?'

'Tradition. Liekta Dayena finds handwriting more personal.'

'A pain in the arm, more like it; not to mention neck and back for lugging those ridiculously heavy books around. Computers were invented for a reason.'

'I'm sorry SK,' he shot him an understanding look, 'but I promise, first thing tomorrow, I'll ask Joey and Kaiba about transferring you back. And then we can all get back to searching for Téa.

'Thanks Yugi,' a grateful smile filled his face, 'because I'm really not sure how much more of this I can take.'


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

The pain started when the spider-like device had attached itself to her neck, increased until the point where she passed out. She didn't know how long she'd been out for, but when she came to she found herself chained to the back wall of a large, dimly lit basement, surrounded by an eerie blue glow. Next to her were the unconscious forms of Mai and Téa. For a few long moments she just found herself staring at them; for some reason they were both dressed in ugly, shapeless nightgowns, which half reminded her of potato sacks. Looking down at herself she noticed she too was dressed in the same. The material was a cheap, itchy and uncomfortable wool and it didn't take a peak underneath to work out she wasn't wearing anything else.

Almost reluctantly her eyes scanned the rest of the room. The three of them were surrounded by a blue semi-circle painted with a stomach clenchingly familiar midnight blue paint. There were also several symbols painted in the same paint along the wall and floor; some of which she recognised thanks to Kaiba's knowledge, some of which were totally new to both of them. The semi-circle also contained a couple of mid-sized metal buckets. For half a second she couldn't work out why on earth they would be there, then her stomach re-clenched with a new kind of dread; their kidnapper was planning to keep them here for a while.

Giving a heavy sigh, she turned her attention away from her immediate surroundings to the wider basement area they were in. At the opposite end of the room she could just about make out a narrow staircase leading up to the outside world. Along the wall to the right was a row of surgical looking metallic tables, on the one nearest to her was a shallow tray and next to this was a deck of duel monsters cards. Her heart jumped in fear. Gritting her teeth, she willed the deck to her. Nothing happened. Not willing to give into fear just yet, she tried again. Still nothing.

A cry of frustration escaped her and as it did a dark, cough like chuckle met her ears.

'Nice little side affect my Aknid has, don't you think?'

'What?' Her eyes darted in the direction of the voice, instantly spotting the glowing tip of a cigarette.

'The Aknid, you know that spidery little thing lodged in the back of your neck,' there was a billow of smoke as the basement's strip light flickered on revealing the dark haired stranger. 'It doesn't just force the truth out of people; it can also be used to control their powers.'

'What do you want with me?'She gritted her teeth as he slowly made his way across the room, towards the tables.

'I don't want anything with you Piper; it's what's inside of you I'm interested in,' he perched himself on the edge of the table next to the deck, took a drag on his cigarette and slowly exhaled another billow of smoke. 'See Crovell's the Heir to Chaos and Jo's the Heir to Order, together they are undeniably powerful. But your precious little game changer is so much more,' he gave an amused half laugh. 'See your little plan for acceptance is one of three Heirs to the Light; one of three heirs to the new brotherhood,' he took another drag and smirked, 'or should I say sisterhood. And that's what interests me.'

'Why?'

'Lillyannu Ashmar was responsible for suppressing the Elemental magic used by the Odraian and Silkoneon people, in doing so she saved her kind. Five thousand years later Veronie Lutoni reawakened this power on a mass scale; the power of a Khine.'

'What's that got to do with…?'

'I'm just getting onto that,' he sniffed. 'See the wives of the Brotherhood of Brother's each gave birth to a healthy baby girl all on the same day. They may not have realised it, but the girl's birth would eventually hail in the end of Era of Reama, ridding the Disconnected Realms of Standing Sorcerers. And their rebirth,' he smirked, 'their rebirth will bring it back. See its time for the Standing's to have their own little awakening.'

'Okay… and you've chained me, Mai and Téa to a wall, because…?'

'Other than the fact its fun you mean,' he chuckled. 'Patience, I'll get onto that in a minute, but first I want to talk about Reama.'

'Reama? Why...?'

'Ah Reama, the only Order of Power which can be successfully used as a self-renewing energy source. Such an amazing thing Reama, don't you think?' He dropped the cigarette he'd just finished the the ground and snubbed it out with his toe. 'Well I guess from the way the Mistresses felt about the Chaosen, _you_ wouldn't think so. After all, the Chaosen were the first mortal breed capable of using Reama and after their evolution I bet the Mistresses were hoping that would be the end of Reama on the Mortal Plains, but they were wrong, weren't they?'

'You're talking about Standing Sorcerers, aren't you?'

'Of course I'm talking about Standing Sorcerers,' his lips twisted into a cruel smile. 'Have you ever wondered why the Standing are the only breed where the magic they possess is limited to very, very few individuals and only passed down from a father to his children?'

'Are you trying to suggest Standing Sorcerers have some sort of connection to the Chaosen?'

'Of course I am,' he rolled his eyes, 'although I'm not completely clear on the details, I do know Standing Sorcerers only exist because the Chaosen were wiped out.'

'They weren't wiped out,' she shook her head, 'they evolved...'

'They were forced to evolve because they weren't liked,' his voice was filled with strangely bitter tones, 'that's why the Mistresses allowed the Standing to developed their own society and beliefs completely separate to those of the Odraian, because they feared if those with Reama magic learnt what they had _was_ Reama magic and that it came from the Chaosen they would go after the Odraians and take back everything they'd lost. Oh no, the Mistresses couldn't risk something like that happening,' his face twisted with disgust, 'that's why they were more than happy to let the Standing call it _dark magic_ or _shadow magic_ or whatever, just so they wouldn't call it Reama. But it was Reama and it is Reama and it will be Reama again.'

'What are you saying?'

'When the Heirs to Light are born, the Standing shall have their awakening. And when they do there's going to be a division. Those who declare themselves Standing Sorcerers will no doubt follow Crovell as their one and only messiah. Whereas those who declare themselves Chaosen will follow me.'

'And just who the hell are you?'

'Don't you know by now Piper?' He met and held her gaze. 'I am the Game Master.'

'Is that supposed to impress me?' She gritted her teeth and turned her head away.

'You're really are asking for this, you know that Piper,' he chuckled in amusement and shook his head.

'Asking for what exactly? You still haven't told me why you've brought us here.'

'Isn't it obvious,' he folded his arms and smirked, 'you're all here to give birth.'

For a few moments Piper was silent as her eyes rescanned the room. She was trying to use Kaiba's memory to decode the meaning, or possible meaning, of as many of the symbols around her as possible; the only problem was he hadn't paid that much attention to them back then.

'How long are you planning to keep us here, exactly?' Her eyes eventually lifted to meet with his.

'Three days.'

'Days...?'

'See the semi-circle you're sat within?' He cocked his head to one side. 'Once all three crystals are in place any woman sat within it will go from whatever stage her pregnancy is at to full term in just three days.'

'Three days...?'

'Is there something about those words you don't quite understand there Piper? Or do you need me to go a little slower with this for you?' He snorted out a half laugh as he picked up a blue crystal from the table he was resting against. 'Once I pop this little beauty into place, you and your little friends will be ready to give birth in three days.'

'Why...? Why would you want to...? I don't...'

'There are very good reasons why I'm doing this Piper,' he slipped another cigarette out of his pocket and lit it. 'The first is that I need those brats you're carrying to actually be born for the Standing Awakening to occur and if I hadn't stepped in when I did at least one of them wouldn't have been,' he glanced towards Téa as he took a drag. 'The second is that even if she was planning on keeping it, the three of you couldn't have kept your little buns hidden for much longer and the more people who knew, the more protected you would be. The final and most important reason is if a mortal immortal is born before its due date its vulnerable. And as two of these little darlings plan on being mortal immortals, the only way for me to kill them is if their born early.'

'But I... I thought you needed them to be born.'

'Born, yeah,' he chuckled, 'but I said nothing about them living. I'm going to have my work cut out fending off the all powerful Crovell and his bit sister; I really don't need any more of the little troublemakers around.'

'You won't get away with this. I will not let you kill my…'

'Who said you're going to have a choice about any of this Piper? In fact, who even said you're going to be around long enough to see your unnatural spawn come into the word.'

'What...?'

As she spoke, she felt something brush against her right leg. Looking down she spotted a golden snake winding itself around her ankle. As the fangs bit into her, pain rocketed through her body, causing her to cry out.

'The thing is Piper,' his voice was almost too calm, 'I don't really need you; I just need your body. I know those two things are supposed to go hand in hand, but I can't risk you having anymore _little_ _bundles of joy_,' he picked up the top card from the deck beside him.

'What… what are you planning to do?' Her whole body felt rigid with a mixture of fear and pain.

'I'm planning to kill you Piper,' each word came out of him in a slow kind of amusement, 'bit by bit, piece by piece, slow enough so he'll start to feel it too. I like the thought of you mutually suffering,' his eyes glinted evilly, 'it excites me.'

'But…'

'If you're about to say killing you will cause you to revert back to him, don't bother,' he cut her off. 'The Sna around your ankle will force his DNA to remained locked in its current form until it's dethatched. Of course I've programmed the Sna to only remain attached as long as the person wearing it remains within the semicircle. And, considering the circumstances, with you gone that won't be pretty.'

'Please...' her whole body trembled with fear, 'don't do this to me. I don't want to die. Please, I don't want to die.'

'But that's not your choice, is it? See you were stupid enough to hide this little touch item of yours where anyone with half a brain could find it. And I would very much like to believe I have more than half a brain,' he took out his lighter again and began singeing the corners of the card he was holding. 'Now scream for me.'

'You're a bastard,' Piper gritted her teeth against the feeling of sickness and pain which was moving through her, 'I won't give you the satisfaction.'

'Oh, but you will Piper, you will.'


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

He wrapped his arms protectively round her, squeezed his eyes shut and prayed she wouldn't be able to sense the tears slowly rolling down his face. There was no going back now. Even if he reversed what he'd done to her she'd still remember and that would be enough to ruin everything they had worked so hard for. He couldn't do that to them, not after they'd put their faith in him. But just knowing what they needed him to do filled him with a level of anguish he never thought he'd ever experience.

In the back of his mind he could sense Octan trying to comfort him; trying to reassure him this was a necessary evil and it would all be worth it in the end. But what did the outcome of this situation really matter to him anyway? It's not like he hadn't had centuries to psyche himself up for this possibility. Jay hadn't. He hadn't even had a second to prepare for it and now he was having to go through with a plan he wasn't totally sure he was behind, because there were just so many things about it which didn't make sense to him.

For a few long minutes he listened to the laboured sound of her breathing as she fitfully slept in his arms. There was an invisible time limit counting down around them; sure the process could be reversed at any point, but the longer it went on the more damage it would leave on her as a result. To make matters worse, the situation was highly delicate; every move he made, every thought, every word had to be careful thought out and timed with an accuracy he wasn't totally sure he could achieve. Over and over again he found himself thinking this task would be so much better suited to Octan, so why had he never been the intended orchestrator of it?

Sighing heavily, he leant his head back against the sink basin behind him. He'd never felt more alone in his life. It wasn't a feeling he liked, but there was nothing he could do about it. As he sat there, wallowing in his own misery, the words of a nursery rhyme his mother used to sing to him and his sister tumbled out of his mouth.

'Monday's child is fair of face. Tuesday's child is full of grace. Wednesday's child is full of woe. Thursday's child has far to go. Friday's child is loving and giving.  
Saturday's child works hard for a living. But the child who is born on the Sabbath Day, is bonny and blithe and good…' he paused and lowered his gaze. 'And good.'

The word stuck in his throat like sick. Of all the things he'd done in his life and death, this had to be the least _good_. It didn't matter whose plan it was. It didn't matter that it the only thing they could do. It wasn't good. It could never be good. For a moment he opened his eyes and stared down at her. Not so long ago she'd been this beautiful, innocent young girl and now...

'Mary had a little lamb, whose fleece was as white as snow. And everywhere that Mary went, the lamb was sure to go,' a sad smile flittered across his lips as he gently kissed her forehead. 'It followed her to school one day, which was against the rules. It made the children laugh and play, to see a lamb at school. And so the teacher turned it out, but still it lingered near. And waited patiently about, till Mary did appear. Why does the lamb love Mary so, the eager children cry. Why, Mary loves the lamb you know, the teacher did reply.'

* * *

It was a little after seven when Mokuba wearily emerged from his room. Tristan hadn't been in to wake him up, so he could only assume neither Piper nor his brother had appeared. Just to be sure, Mokuba made his way towards their room; it was empty. Figuring Tristan must be waiting in one of the downstairs rooms, he headed towards the stair. But at the top he stopped and a sad smile crept across his face. Five steps up from the bottom, leaning against the banister was Tristan. It was clear from the heaviness of his position Mokuba hadn't been the only one unable to stay up all night waiting.

As quietly as he could Mokuba made his way down the stairs towards him. As he got closer he noticed several spots of red on the carpet, along with an unwelcome crimson stain on Tristan's left sleeve. For half a moment Mokuba closed his eyes and willed the strength to be able to deal with this. He then continued down the stairs passed Tristan and went towards the nearest room in order to grab a first aid kit. Returning to the stairs he rolled up Tristan's left sleeve and began cleaning off the dried blood.

'Seto,' Tristan's voice was dry and quiet as he half opened his eyes.

'No,' Mokuba kept his own voice low, 'he's still not home yet.'

'I'm sorry...'

'You couldn't have just taken something?'

'I wanted to be able to think clearly,' he shook his head. 'I had to be able to think clearly if I was going to reach him.'

'You were trying to reach Seto telepathically?' Mokuba lifted his gaze to meet with Tristan's.

'I had been from the moment he went missing. I know telepathy has a limited range, but when two telepaths are both trying to contact each other the range extends almost endlessly. Wherever he is... wherever he is he can't use his telepathy right now, I'm sure of it.'

'You were sure of it before I went to bed last night, weren't you?' Mokuba sighed.

'I'm sorry.'

'Stop apologising, that's not helping either one of us right now,' he gritted his teeth as he began to dress the wound.

'I know...' he lowered his gaze, 'and I... I think it's time to call in some help. We can't do this on our own.'

'I know,' Mokuba finished dressing the wound and took a seat beside him. 'I'll get SK here, you go have a shower and freshen up or something. And preferably by something I mean _take_ something. I already have this morning.'

'I thought you were being _way_ too calm about all this.'

'Well one of us has to be,' he gave an impatient sigh.

'I'm sorry, I know this isn't fair on you,' he placed his right hand over the dressing on his left arm, 'I'm older, I've been in counselling longer and I should be more together than this by now; but just the thought something might have...' he cut himself off. 'God, I'm pathetic.'

'No you're not, but maybe you should try getting some sleep too, you look like an exhausted mess right now.'

'No,' he shook his head, 'no, I don't think I could sleep right now. But I will have a shower and take something and pull myself together. You call SK and fill him in on...'

Before he could finish his sentence Yugi appeared out of nowhere at the bottom of the staircase making them both start.

'Hey,' his face flashed with a brief, but tense smile, 'I know it's early and I probably should have used the door or called or something, but it's kind of an emergency; I was wondering if I could speak with...' he cut himself off as he noticed the bandage on Tristan's arm. 'What...? Tristan you... you didn't...? Has... has something happened?'

'Yeah,' Tristan pulled his left sleeve down, 'Seto's disappeared.'

'He's what?' An almost involuntary sounding laugh pushed its way out of Yugi.

'He's disappeared.'

'When?'

'Yesterday.'

'Seriously?'

'No, I just did this for fun,' he indicated towards his left arm. 'Why would I lie about something this serious Yugi?'

'It's just…' he blinked and shook his head in a mystified manner, 'Téa disappeared yesterday as well.'

'What?' Mokuba laughed in surprise.

'And that's not all,' Yugi pulled a face, 'midway through my search for her, Liekta Dayena suddenly decided to transfer SK to her Council.'

'What?' Tristan jaw clenched. 'She can't do that, can she?'

'She can if she doesn't believe he's accepted his death.'

'Damnit, we really need to get him back.'

'Why do you think I'm here so early? I need Kaiba _and_ Joey for the transfer to be official.'

'Great,' he lowered his head and ran his fingers tensely back through his hair, 'this is just great.'

'What about Jay?' Mokuba pressed his lips together.

'He's not answering right now,' Joey's voice sounded from the stairway behind them, 'and just so we're keeping count here, Mai's missing too.'

'Jay's not answering?' Mokuba turned towards where Joey.

'No,' Yugi sighed, 'SK said he was acting weird right before he got transferred yesterday; he thought it was grief but I'm not so sure. I'm starting to get the feeling someone's going out of their way to make this difficult for us.'

'I agree,' Joey folded his arms.

'This doesn't make sense,' Tristan massaged his temples, 'none of this makes any sense right now.'

'No, it doesn't,' Joey gritted his teeth, 'and what's worse is Jay seems to be shaping up to be our number one suspect _again_.'

'But why would he take them? What would he have to gain from any of this?'

'I don't know,' his fists clenched, 'but I'm telling you right now I will do whatever it takes to find out.'


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

Téa groaned loudly as her eyes slowly began to flicker open. Her neck was throbbing with a tight, pinching sensation and her head pounded sickly. As her vision slowly adjusted to the gloom of the room, she quickly realised two things. The first was that she was chained to the wall within a strangely glowing semi-circle. The second was the fact she was not alone.

To her left was Mai, who was clearly still unconscious. And to her right was Piper who was curled into an oddly defeated huddle. Piper's whole body was trembling and her head was so far forward her face was hidden by her long brown hair. For a few long and stilted moments Téa found herself staring at her, before she realised she was or at least had been crying. It was a numbing realisation which made the reality of their situation hit Téa like a tonne of bricks.

'If you're awake Téa, at least say something,' Pipe's voice was dry as she sniffed and gave a strange half laugh. 'God I never thought I'd be the one saying that.'

'Are you okay?'

'Do I look okay?'

'No, I guess not,' she bit her lip. 'What's going on here anyway?'

'Congratulations,' she sucked in a sharp breath of air, 'you've been kidnapped by a madman.'

'What?' She laughed in surprise.

'A madman Téa; someone who takes great pleasure in torturing people,' she gave a slight sob. 'It doesn't matter how I look at it, I'm still getting off lightly compared to what he's going to do to you and Mai.'

'What do you mean?'

'You don't want to know,' her voice dropped into a trembling whisper. 'I didn't want to know. But all the pain he'd just put me through wasn't enough. He wanted to... to make sure... to make certain I... I was afraid of him. And I am. I'm terrified of him. Of what he's capable of. I've never been so afraid of anybody in my whole life. God he's worse than Re.'

'What...' Téa swallowed hard, 'what's he going to do?'

In reply Piper simply began sobbing loudly. Every inch of Téa filled with fear; okay maybe Piper hadn't been around long enough to have proven herself strong or weak, brave or cowardly, but Téa didn't believe for a second she would break down like this unless it was something really serious. Shaking more than a little herself, Téa moved as close to Piper as she could and placed a hand on her shoulder. Instantly Piper flinched away, acting more like she'd been punched in the shoulder than lightly touched. Her tear stricken face lifted towards Téa, every inch of it trembling.

'Is he... is he planning to kill us?' Téa's voice was barely audible.

'That would be no fun for him,' she shook her head. 'He likes to watch people suffer and once you're dead, that's it, no more suffering. Trust me; what he has in store is far worse than death.'

'I... I want to know,' she tried to keep her voice as level as possible, 'what... what is he going to do to us?'

'I... I can't tell you,' her voice dropped to a whisper. 'I can't tell you, but I don't want you to hear it from him. Not the way he tells it. There were times when I thought, I honestly thought, he was going to grab some passer-by off the street for a preview. That's how sick he is,' a choked sounding sob gasped its way out of her. 'Believe it or not, that's why I'm…' she gave a disbelieving half laugh, 'that's why I'm crying. God I can't believe I'm crying.'

'Why... why is he doing this?'

'Because he wants to steal our children, kill them, then make sure we can't have anymore.'

'What?' Téa stared at her not completely sure she'd heard right.

'I know you're pregnant Téa, so is Mai and so am…' she trailed off.

'But how? I mean, you're...'

'If you flip gender Téa, you flip gender, there's no if and but about it, everything crosses over.'

'I know that, you've explained it to me before, remember? What I was trying to say was that you're not exactly in Tristan's good books at the moment, unless you were exaggerating about how bad the situation really is.'

'Telepathic control, telepathic manipulation and knowing how to Flip at the exact right moment,' Piper gave an exasperated sigh. 'I just thought she was doing it to hurt me and...'

'Wait, she?'

'Piper.'

'But you are Piper.'

The other girl gave a strange cough like laugh and lowered her gaze.

'You're not Piper are you,' Téa let out a long breath, 'you're Kaiba; that's what you meant before, about getting off lightly. But I don't understand, what happened to Piper?'

'Did you know both the Flip and the person who created the Flip feel pain when the touch item is destroyed,' she gave a strange, tearful half laugh. 'It was one of the things the Pure mentioned to me when she was advising me against creating a Flip to begin with. What she didn't... what she failed to warn me about was that if the touch item is destroyed slowly then you can literally feel every single inch of the Flip dying and more. By the time he'd burned his way through half the pack I felt... I... I wanted to die. I wanted to die just to make the pain stop.'

'I see,' she pressed her lips together, 'but I don't get it; if Piper's gone why is her form still here.'

'Reason ninety-eight as to why I hate Reama technology.'

'Huh?'

'The snake on my ankle,' she gave a heavy sigh. 'So long as I'm wearing it, I'll stay like this. And trust me, given the circumstances, I'm not looking for it to come off in a hurry.'

'How long is he planning to keep us here?'

'Three days,' her voice was strained as she turned her gaze towards the ceiling. 'Although I'm guessing it's more like two now, he activated the spell last night.'

'Three days?'

'I'll explain when Mai wakes up.'

'Why?'

'Because I'd rather not have to explain twice.'

'Fine, I guess I'll have to wait then.'

There were a few long moments of silence.

'Téa,' the female Kaiba's voice was little more than a whisper, 'you... you won't tell anyone, will you?'

'Tell them what?' Téa frowned back at her.

'That you saw me cry. No one's ever seen me cry before.'

'Okay, but not because I like you,' she shot him a look, 'but because you've clearly just gone through something and I'm not cruel.'

'Well at least I know you're being honest with me.'

'Huh?'

'Reama technology can be used for a lot of things, controlling a person or a person's power is just one of them. Unfortunately in both of those cases there tends to be side effects,' she gave a heavy sigh, 'and the particular devices our captor is using against us forces a person to be honest.'

'I see,' Téa felt her face pull into a frown, 'so that means everything you've told me so far is the truth.'

'Yes.'

'And you can't lie, not at all.'

'Your level of maturity never ceases to amaze me,' she glared. 'And in case you weren't listening, you can't lie either.'

'I don't lie anyway,' Téa shrugged, 'I'm not like you.'

'Seriously, you're still choosing to be like this with me?' The female Kaiba shook her head. 'I don't get it, what did I do to you exactly?'

'Err... hello, you Stockholmed Tristan,' Téa stared at him.

'I'm sorry, what?'

'When he was in trouble you got him locked up in a mental institution,' Téa found herself almost unable to stop the words from coming out. 'You then made sure you were the only one who knew he was there; so you were the only one who could be there for him. Then when he got back you monopolised all his time...'

'Oh no, you're not going there with me; the rest of you kept forgetting about him, remember? He was spending time with me and Mokuba because we were the ones who actually remembered he was still alive.'

'Fine,' she rolled her eyes, 'but after he moved in with you, after his memory problems started, you started controlling everything he did. You made him dependent on you.'

'No, that's not true, that's not what I was doing,' the female Kaiba met and held her gaze. 'I was handling a very stressful situation very badly, I admit that. But I wasn't trying to control him and I wasn't trying to make him dependent on me.'

'Then why did he fall in love with you. If you weren't manipulating him, if you weren't trying to control him, then why did he fall in love with you?'

'You say that like he only fell in love with me after his memory problems started to develop,' she rolled her eyes. 'Don't you get it, even when everything else is gone he still holds on to a thin sliver of memory; me. No matter what he always remembers me, even when he doesn't know who I am, he still remembers me. And it's been that way from the beginning. He was in love with me before his memory problems started. And what's more, he was certain of how he felt long before I even considered I might have feelings for him. Don't you get it Téa? I didn't make him fall in love with me, he was already in love with me; he made me fall in love with him.'


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20**

He hadn't had the chance to try and speak with his Daiosen again, meaning the grownups were now short the one piece of information which could have made their job so much easier. Sighing, he stared through the bars of his sister's crib, as his parents and the other teenage adults stood about discussing what to do next. Behind him, Jo moved about as much as her infantile body would allow. Since her little power display the day before, she'd started behaving more like he'd wanted her too. It made him happy to know she truly was his equal, but didn't make her any more useful to him in this situation than she already was.

Then again it wasn't as though he was going to be much use in this situation either. His one and only opportunity to help had slipped through his fingers, all because his mothers and the other women had come back too soon. It frustrated him, but there was nothing he could do about it, other than watch and pray things turned out the way he wanted them too. His sister made a slight gurgling noise, causing him to turn his attention towards her.

'Jo, three,' a babyish smile pulled at his lips.

To his amusement, three of his alphabet blocks appeared in the crib next to them. Giggling, he clapped his hands in appreciation. Then his eyes caught sight of which three blocks they were; L, A, T. Much to his annoyance, his sister could already spell.

* * *

'So we have no Jay, no SK and no idea why anyone would want to kidnap Téa, Mai and Kaiba,' Duke sighed.

'Maybe it's not Téa, Mai and Kaiba,' Catilin tilted her head to one side, 'maybe it's Téa, Mai and Piper. You said it was Piper who left right?' Her eyes turned towards Tristan.

'It was _her_ clothing missing,' Tristan rolled his eyes and turned his head away, 'but what would anyone want with Piper.'

'What would anyone want with Kaiba?' Joey shook his head. 'Just because you're gay doesn't mean the rest of the world is. Besides, it makes more sense for it to be Piper, you said yourself it was her clothes missing and since the other two known victims are Mai and Téa...'

'Known victims?' Tristan cut him off. 'What is this, some kind of police investigation?'

'Not yet it isn't,' Yugi sighed, 'but only because I managed to convince Téa's parents to hold off calling the police again just yet. They weren't happy and it was hard trying to bluff a believable reason without exposing... all this,' he vaguely indicated around him, 'but I'm not sure how long their patience will hold out for.'

'Then we really need to start figuring this whole mess out,' Duke began massaging his temples, 'so maybe we should treat this like some kind of police investigation, get a board and timelines and whatever else going.'

'Well I can do you a white board,' Joey casually flicked his hand causing a large free standing white board to appear in the middle of the room.

'Okay, where did that come from?'

'At the moment Crovell and Jo are the only infants on Sil, at some point they're going to need to be educated and I'm still not sure whether that's going to happen here or on Earth,' he averted his gaze, 'I figured it would be good to have one round just in case.'

'Well I guess it's nice to know you're actually thinking about your kids' futures,' Duke made his way towards the white board and picked up one of the pens. 'Okay, so this is what we know so far; at various points yesterday Mai, Téa and Kaiba all went missing,' he scrawled their names onto the board and circled them, 'SK was unexpectedly transferred onto Liekta Dayena's Council and Jay... disappeared,' he put a question mark under Jay's name. 'We know from SK, Jay was acting really weird after Nayta's death yesterday, but what we don't know is if he's another victim or if he's somehow involved in the kidnapping itself.'

'I don't like the patterns you're drawing,' Catilin frowned at him, 'you're making it sound like its Jay and I can't believe it's Jay.'

'And neither can I,' Ahna folded his arms. 'I know he doesn't exactly have the best track record, but I honestly don't think he would do something like this. Not without a good reason.'

'Maybe he does have a good reason,' Covo pressed his lips together, 'we just don't know what it is yet.'

'Why are we stood around looking for reasons anyway,' Tristan folded his arms and half turned away from them. 'We should be out there looking for them; all we're doing right now is wasting time. Or do we only actually look for people when they happen to be your son,' he glared at Joey.

'When Crovell went missing we knew how and where he went missing,' Joey gritted his teeth. 'We have no idea who would want to kidnap Mai, Téa and Kaiba, let alone _how_ they managed to do it. Think about it Tristan, Mai and Téa might have had limited abilities to defend themselves, but even if it was Piper who was taken and not your precious Kaiba, she still has access to the Pure's powers. So why didn't she defend herself? We can't risk going out there until we at least have some idea what we're up against.'

'So what, in the meantime Mai, Téa and Seto are just supposed to wait around and suffer whatever kind of torture their captor is putting them through,' Tristan shook his head, 'I don't think so.'

'I agree with Tristan,' Mokuba nodded.

'Yeah and exactly how medicated are both of you right now?' Joey's eyes flicked between them.

'Don't you dare pull the mental health card on this one Wheeler,' Tristan met and held his gaze, 'or so help me...'

'For what it's worth, I think we should be looking,' Duke cut them off. 'I know we don't have a whole lot to go on, but I don't think that's going to change unless we actually get some clue or evidence or... whatever and we're sure as hell not going to find any arguing like this.'

'Don't you think I know that?' Joey turned on him. 'My wife and sister...' he cut himself off. 'Mai, Téa and Kaiba are all out there somewhere, being held by someone strong enough to capture and contain the Pure. That frightens me.'

'It frightens me too,' Yugi pulled a face, 'but... I just keep feeling like we should be out there doing something.'

'Okay, fine, but we're not all going,' Joey rolled his eyes, 'Ahna and Cat, I want you two to stay here and try to figure this situation out.'

'Why us?' Ahna frowned.

'Because if anyone can see this situation for what it is then its Cat and at least one of my kids should be with their mother right now.'

'I understand,' she nodded, 'just be careful, okay?'

* * *

After his multiple escape attempts the day before, Dayena had stuck SK in her personal library for the day. Round almost every single corner was one of her council members, silently keeping an eye on him. Every time he spotted one of them he felt himself groan; if this was the method she used to make people _accept their deaths_ it was a wonder anyone ever did. Not that he believed for a second that was the real reason for his transfer, of course. No the real reason was something far more sinister, he just didn't know what it was yet.

Sighing, he ran his hand along the bindings of several thick books as he made his way through Dayena's library. Pulling one out, he quickly thumbed through it. Something told him Dayena had put him in here for a reason and the only way he was going to find it was by looking. It took several attempts; several different leather bound books, before the name Octan Tessin Cayta leapt out of the page at him. He may not have been working for Dayena for long, but he did know most of these books logged the time and date of death of every living person since the beginning of human existence. He also knew from things Jay had told him Octan's death shouldn't have been logged.

Octan's demise had been the Boy's doing and was caused by a Status Swap, rather than a physical death. Octan had technically died without dying and, just as it wouldn't have if his death had been part of a spell or ritual which required the removal of physical remains from existence in order to work, it didn't count as a death and therefore didn't get logged. But that wasn't the only irregularity about the entry; the time and date were also inconsistent with what he knew of Octan. In fact, the time and date were the same as Jay's. Frowning, he began to scan through the book for Jay's entry. But it wasn't in there. Taking the next book down from the shelf, he continued his search. Still nothing.

'This can't be right,' his tongue skated across his lips as he reached for another book.

'What can't?' A voice pricked from behind him.

Turning round, he saw a pretty blonde, with bright green eyes, dressed in a short black tunic, watching him.

'You're SK, right?' A brief smile flashed across her face. 'Our new recruit.'

'Yeah,' he nodded, 'and you are?'

'Elizabeth David,' she held her hand out towards him. 'Dee decided you might benefit from a little one on one death coaching. So if there's anything I can help you with...'

'There is actually,' he cut her off, 'I'm looking for my friend and he doesn't appear to be in here.'

'That's not exactly what I meant...'

'I know, but it's important, please.'

'Okay,' her face filled with a bewildered smile, 'what's his name and which year did he die?'

'Jay Richard Peters and nineteen sixty-eight.'

'Okay,' she turned towards the shelves and pulled down another book before quickly thumbing through it. 'It should be in here somewhere and I should know; I logged that particular entry myself. Pretty exciting too, almost as soon as his name was on the paper he was whisked away to the Mistresses' Council, very VIP.'

'I bet,' he licked his lips, 'so have you been working for Lady Dayena for long then?'

'Only my whole afterlife.'

'And how long is that?'

'Two hundred years next Tuesday.'

'Wow,' he almost chocked.

'You act like that's a long time, it's actually pretty average for...' she trailed off as a deep frown crossed her face. 'Well that's odd.'

'What is?' SK's tongue skated across his lips again.

'His log entry is missing.'

'What do you mean, missing?'

'I mean, it's not there; it's just a blank line on the page. Very odd.'

'Well if it helps, Octan has an entry for that day.'

'Really?' Elizabeth almost laughed in surprise. 'I mean, I know Dee joked to me about adding him in; after all he did technically die when Jay did, but I didn't think she actually would.'

'I can show you if you like,' he picked up the book and thumbed through to the entry. 'Here.'

'But... I don't understand... that's my handwriting,' she blinked in disbelief.

'You sure?'

'Positive. But that doesn't make any sense; I swear on my life I never logged him. I logged Jay.'

'Things aren't always what they appear,' his tongue made several more passes across his lips. 'Tell me, are we allowed to access Liekta Arrena's library?'

'Technically no, but I'm trusted by both Ladies; they'd make an exception for me, I'm sure,' her face filled with a serious look. 'When Dee suddenly transferred you like that I didn't think much of it; everyone knows the Mistresses' current Helper has done everything in his power not to accept his death.'

'Thanks,' he rolled his eyes, 'it's nice to know what people really think of me.'

'It's not like anyone thinks less of you for it; considering everything you've been through since accepting the post... But, well the old Mistresses' Council members were loved by everyone and nobody's really felt comfortable since they... you know. So it made sense for Dee to want to... lessen that feeling of discomfort by making you more accessible. Like I said, your transfer really didn't seem that strange to me; until this morning when Dayena was so insistent I be the one to help you.'

'I take it she wouldn't normally ask you to do something like this?'

'No, I've helped people before, but I've never been ordered to help anyone before. And now I find someone's been messing with my work; this can't be a coincidence, something's going on here and I'm going to do everything in my power to help you.'

'Why?'

'Because somebody changed my log entry SK and I really, really hate it when people mess with my work.'


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21**

Her milky blue eyes watched him with all the innocence of a lamb, but the cruel curl to the edge of her smile revealed the cold heart of the hunter which lay within. Jay knew better than to underestimate her and he wasn't about to let her out of his sight for a second. She was stronger now she'd fed; now she knew what she hungered for. And she did hunger for it; she was like a caged animal waiting for its chance to escape. He knew she would only remain obedient to him as long as he could quash her hunger; as long as he could keep her full.

But that wasn't going to be easy; keeping her fed was taking more out of him than he'd anticipated. He'd miscalculated. Badly. And if his plan was still going to work he needed to be done with her by the early hours of the morning at the latest. But in her current state there was just no way they could move about in the middle of the day, not without drawing some serious attention. So there was nothing he could do but wait until darkness came and hope one night would be enough.

* * *

It was mid-afternoon and there'd still been no sign of Téa, Mai or Kaiba. Joey had known from the moment they'd set out finding clues would be difficult. For a start none of them could be certain where they'd been taken from and without knowing why or having any idea by who... Joey's head suddenly surged with pain and the noise of the First's voices. It forced him to take a seat on a nearby bench and press his hands tightly against his skull until the pain subsided. He knew what it meant; the First was just as worried about this situation as he was.

'You okay man?' Tristan's voice sounded from above him.

'Tired,' he lowered his hands and stared up at him, 'I didn't exactly sleep much last night.'

'Neither did I,' he sighed, 'and I'm starting to think you were right about not going into this thing half cocked. We have no idea where to start looking and all we're doing right now is running around in circles.'

'Your medication finally kicked in then?' Joey gave a weary half smirk.

'You really want to joke about something like that right now,' Tristan glared at him.

'I'm sorry, I just...'

'I get it,' he cut him off, 'I just wish we knew why they were taken.'

'I know,' Joey pressed his lips together and met his gaze. 'But right now I have to be honest with you Tristan; if we're going to figure this thing out I think we have to assume it was Piper and not Kaiba who was taken.'

'Why?'

'Two reasons, the first is that you yourself said it was Piper out there walking around yesterday and not Kaiba. The second is because, technically speaking, Piper, Mai and Téa are all females involved with Higher Beings.'

'Involved with Higher Beings?' Tristan gritted his teeth. 'I'm not _involved_ with Piper.'

'No, but you are involved with Kaiba and Piper is a part of Kaiba no matter how you look at it.'

'So you're pulling this on a technicality?' He balled his fists.

'It's not a technicality; it's the only thing that makes any sense to me right now.'

'But it's not the only possibility which makes sense' he held firm. 'Why does it just have to be girls involved with Higher Beings?'

'Because else it would be you instead of him.'

'How'd you figure that?'

'Téa's dating Yugi and he's the Face of Friendship. Mai's married to me and I'm the First. You're with Kaiba and _he's_ the Pure. See a pattern.'

'Yeah…' his tense expression relented into a frown.

'So do you see why it makes more sense to go with the whole three females thing?'

'I guess,' he shifted his gaze away, 'but I really hate Piper; I don't exactly want to focus on trying to find her.'

'Well just pretend she's rich boy, oh wait, you don't have to. She is.'

'Grow up Wheeler.'

'I love it when you talk like him,' Joey rolled his eyes. 'Look, I get it, you're gay now and the suddenly the whole girl thing is foreign territory to you. But the way you talk about Piper... it's like you don't even remember you used to like girls.'

'That's not the problem I have with her,' he folded his arms.

'Then what is your problem with her? I don't get it.'

'Do you really want me to list the reasons?' Tristan was starting to get angry now. 'She's manipulative and selfish. She's always showing up when she's not welcome and definitely not wanted. She does things just to wind Seto up, not to mention really piss me off. She...'

'Rich boy tried to get rid of her, didn't he?' Joey cut him off.

'What? How...?'

'Rich boy tried to get rid of her and failed and her survival instinct kicked in and now she's doing her best to show him who's boss,' he shook his head. 'Don't you think I saw this enough times with the Pure to know what's going on here?'

'You saw?' Tristan frowned. 'Don't you mean the First saw?'

'Err... yeah,' he shifted his gaze away.

'You do that a lot you know,' Tristan shook his head, 'and you're worried about blurred lines between the Pure and Seto.'

'Well considering what happened...'

'Stop holding it over his head like some glorified trophy,' he glared, 'it happened, get over it. And to be perfectly honest with you Joey, the lines between you and the First have always been a lot more blurred. So why don't you stop worrying so much about him and start worrying more about yourself.'

'Right now I'm more worried about Mai and the others,' Joey lowered his gaze.

'Well that makes two of us,' Tristan gave a heavy sigh and began massaging his forehead. 'So what should we do now?'

'I think it's time we regrouped to see if any of the others have come up with anything. Maybe head back to the Southern Palace for a little food.'

'I would make some comment about you being unable to think on an empty stomach, but I probably should have something to eat about now.'

'Are you saying you're hungry?' Joey frowned. 'Or are you thinking about taking something which is ill-advised on an empty stomach?'

'A little of both.'

'Okay, well I know the others scents pretty well so it shouldn't be too hard to hunt them down.'

'Really you want to track your friends?' Tristan cocked an eyebrow at him.

'How else are we going to find them?'

'Never heard of a mobile phone?' He rolled his eyes as he pulled his out of his pocket. 'I'll call Duke, Mokuba and Yugi; I assume you have a number for Covo.'

'Um…'

'Please tell me that Covo does have a mobile phone.'

'Not that I know of,' Joey felt a sheepish expression pull across his face.

'I know you reawakened an ancient civilisation Joey, but this is the modern world; a little technology wouldn't go astray you know.'

'It takes time to get round to these things,' he shrugged.

'Whatever,' Tristan sighed, 'I guess you'll have to track him down with your nose, whilst I get everyone else to gather here and wait for you.'

'I was going to start with him anyway, as a part of my household I've got his scent memorised.'

'Okay, that's just a little bit creepy.'

'But I'm a wolf, my household is pretty much like my pack, why wouldn't I have his scent memorised.'

'You're a wolf, Joey, but he's not. In the wild, if you two were actually animals and not Silkoneons, he would be your prey. Hence, creepy.'

'Sure, whatever,' Joey rolled his eyes, 'you get the others here; I'll be back with Covo as soon as possible.'

With that he got up from the bench and began walking away from him. He hadn't made it very far when he spotted a woman in her forties, with an anxious look across her face. It took him a few seconds to recognise her, but when he did he lowered his head and prayed she wouldn't notice him. Unfortunately his plan didn't work as well as he'd hoped.

'Joey,' the woman rushed over to him, grabbing hold of his arm and forcing him to a stop. 'Joey thank god I found you.'

'What do you want?' He gave a heavy sigh as his eyes lifted to meet with hers.

'Joey, you have to help,' her face creased with worry, 'it's your sister; she's gone missing.'


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22**

When his father and the others had returned from their failed search accompanied by a strange old lady, Crovell had been intrigued. Unfortunately his intrigue had quickly turned into frustration when she'd insistent on speaking to him and his sister as though they had the shared intelligence of a nat. Okay yeah, he knew he was a baby, but none of the other grownups in his life had babbled nonsense at him and expected him to enjoy it. He'd never been so insulted in his whole life and was tempted to teach this woman a lesson chaos style, but warning looks from both his father and Daiosen put him off the idea.

After half an hour of being fawned over like a new born puppy, he was somewhat relieved when his mother decided it was dinnertime and had taken both him and Jo with her to the kitchen. He'd never been so grateful in his life and if he'd been able he'd have told her so. As it was, he simply had to settle for affectionately kissing her check.

'You're welcome Crovell,' she smiled knowingly at him.

Off his babyishly baffled look, she laughed.

'What kind of mother would I be if I didn't know when my son needed me?'

* * *

Mrs Wheeler was impressed by how mature her son had become. The formally unruly teen appeared fairly well settled into the role of parenthood. And, even though his wife and sister were currently missing, he was handling the situation in a more rational manner than she would have expected. In fact, she was the one who felt out of her depth as the group of highly responsible teenagers tried to figure out what exactly was going on.

Whilst her grandchildren had been in the room she'd been able to cover her inability to follow what the others were saying by acquainting herself with them. But now, with nothing to hide behind, she simply felt uncomfortable and confused. At about five thirty the group agreed food was a necessity and thinking this was something she could make herself useful with, she offered to make dinner for them all. Joey had simply grunted in reply, assuming this to be a yes, she left the room and attempted to make her way towards the kitchen.

Unfortunately the Palace her son was living in was larger than she expected and it wasn't long before she was completely lost. Sighing in despair, she stared hopelessly around the unfamiliar corridor she found herself in.

'You lost?' A bright voice piped from behind her.

Turning she saw a girl of about nineteen, with long brown hair and bright green eyes smiling warmly at her.

'I'm looking for the kitchen,' a wary smile tugged at her lips.

'Then you've come to the right girl,' she grinned, 'the kitchen's kind of my department. You're Veronie's mother, right?'

'Veronie?'

'Err… Joey, you're Joey's mother, right?'

'Yeah, how'd you know?'

'Ahna told me.'

'And you are?'

'Korin Covo, Macar's sister.'

'Macar?'

'Covo,' she rolled her eyes, 'everyone calls him Covo, even Ahna.'

'I see…' she was starting to feel very confused, 'and what do they call you?'

'Korin.'

'Okay Korin, could you show me to the kitchen?'

'Sure, follow me.'

Doing as she was told, she followed Korin down the maze of corridors and into a large, well lit kitchen.

'You need any help?' Korin studied her for a moment. 'I mean, there are rather a lot of them at the moment and I am the kitchens coordinator.'

'Wait, you mean you work for my son?' Mrs Wheeler wasn't quite sure what to think.

'Of course,' she smiled as though it were completely normal, 'I'm also one of Mai's official dressers, for ceremonial purposes of course. I got the kitchen position through Macar after he became one of Ver... Joey's Guards.'

'Your brother works for my son as well?' She choked out the words.

'He's a Lutoni; he's expected to have a household. I mean, you don't think a Palace the size of this one runs itself, do you?'

'Well no, but... it's hard to imagine my son hiring staff.'

'I think it was hard for him to imagine it too,' she laughed, 'most of the time this household runs on minimal man power, which is why it can feel so empty around here. So,' she focused her gaze on Mrs Wheeler, 'do you want any help?'

'Um… yes, that would be nice, thank you.'

'Cool,' she grinned as she made her way across the kitchen towards the large oven. 'So what are we cooking?'

* * *

'It doesn't make sense,' SK's tongue skated across his lips as he stared across the table at Elizabeth, 'it's like someone's come along with a giant eraser and wiped him out of the history books.'

'And then replaced him with Octan,' she shook her head, 'whose original birth entry is nowhere to be found. The more we look into this, the more suspicious it becomes. This goes beyond someone tampering with my work and it's definitely bigger than Dee thinking you need to accept your death.'

'I know,' he smirked, licking his lips again, 'great, isn't it?'

'Not really,' her face filled with an odd look, 'there's something very wrong with this situation and just the notion Dee might be involved somehow really doesn't sit well with me.'

'Accepting the people around me are capable of things like this is just another day at the office for me,' he laughed. 'This is what I live for.'

'You don't live SK, you're dead. You should say this is what you _exist_ for,' her gaze and tone were somewhat scolding. 'Although I have to say I'm not sure I'd want to exist for things like this.'

'I said live and I mean live,' he couldn't keep the excited tones out of his voice. 'I don't see why I should have to accept my death when working for the Mistresses makes me feel so alive.'

'You don't have a choice SK,' she shook her head, 'it's not like you're suddenly going to come back to life just because you get some kind of exhilaration out of situations like these. There's nothing wrong with being dead.'

'I know, but that doesn't change the way I feel about it. Nothing about my afterlife has been normal, so why should I be forced to make it normal?'

'Because there's been far too much damage caused by the dead wanting to be alive again SK; that's why we're not supposed to interact with them if we can help it.'

'I know,' he rolled his eyes as his tongue glanced over his lips, 'Jay made sure I read all the books the second I started asking why the dead and the living interacting was such a terrible thing. But I'm not looking to be alive again, I just want to feel alive, there's nothing wrong with that, is there?'

'That's all you want right now, but...'

'We don't have time for this,' SK cut her off. 'Something seriously messed up is going on and we need to let the Mistresses know about it.'

'I don't think so.'

'What do you mean?'

'You work for Dee now or had you forgotten? All our findings have to be reported to her and it's up to her to decide what to do with them.'

'You've got to be kidding me?' SK's tongue skated over his lips once more as he cocked an eyebrow at her. 'You yourself have said you think Dayena might be involved with this somehow. If we report this to her then she's going to keep it to herself and that's simply not good enough. The Mistresses need to have this information, I can feel it in my bones and Jay's told me a million times that part of being a Helper is trusting your instincts, even if you're not totally sure what it is your instincts are trying to tell you.'

'When you talk like that you sound exactly how the old Guardians used to,' a sad look pulled across her face. 'They used to say it's not just the Helper who needs to know what's going on, it's the Guardians too.'

'Did you know them well?' SK studied her for a moment.

'Everyone knew them; didn't I tell you they used to be the heart and soul of the heavens. That's why nobody knows what to do with you and why so many of us visit Isaac.'

'Isaac?' He frowned to a moment. 'Wait, wasn't he the kid who...'

'Yeah, he was. Although it doesn't really surprise me you barely seem to know that,' her facial expression tightened.

'I'm sorry, I try to avoid talking to Jay about the old Guardians, it upsets him,' SK sighed, before getting to his feet.

'Where are you going?'

'I'm going to go talk to the Mistresses,' he shrugged, 'I've managed to escape this place a few times already, once more won't make a difference.'

'It'll make a difference to me; I'll get into trouble for not stopping you.'

'I'll get the Mistresses to square it up with you. Come on, this is important. Plus I want to find out what the holdup is; they should have transferred me back by now.'

'Maybe they think you need to have a little more respect for you own death.'

'I doubt it; I know they need me right now, having me here is inconvenient for them.'

'How can you be so sure? Maybe they just forgot about you. That's what the living do, you know, they forget about the dead.'

'I know they haven't forgotten about me, just like I know they need this information about Jay and Octan sooner rather than later,' SK held his ground, 'and despite what anybody says, I am still their Helper and, damnit, I will help them.'


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23**

Mai gave a heavy sigh and leant her head back against the wall behind her. The situation she'd found herself in when she'd woken up was less than comfortable. Since then her captor had been in to see them twice, both times bringing food for them that was no better than the gruel served to the orphans in Oliver Twist. Hunger had caused all three of them to choke down their breakfasts, but in stubborn protest the female Kaiba had overturned her lunch and muttered something about having no appetite.

A part of Mai couldn't help but wonder if she'd only done that because their captured hadn't hung around after serving them lunch as he had with their breakfast. It was pretty obvious Kaiba was terrified of the guy; a fact which laced Mai's stomach with a cold pool of fear every single time she thought about it. At about six o'clock their captor returned, this time with rations of rather stale looking bread and cheese. The second he spotted Kaiba's upturned bowl a look of dark amusement spread across his face.

'A woman in your condition really needs all the food she can get,' his eyes glinted as he focused his gaze on Kaiba, 'was knocking it over an accident or were you just not hungry?'

Kaiba gave a sulky shrug and squirmed under his gaze.

'The silent treatment won't work with me Kaiba; I know how to make you talk, remember?'

'But you can't make me eat,' her voice wavered slightly, 'isn't that ironic?'

'I wouldn't get smart with me if I were you Kaiba, not unless you want this situation between us to get really unpleasant.'

'Muton fo.'

'Such a dirty mouth for such a pretty girl,' he gave an amused half laugh, 'but clearly no brains.'

With deliberate slowness, he placed the rations of bread and cheese onto grubby looking tin plates and placed them at their feet. Once their dinners had been _served_ he made his way towards one of the metal tables and perched against it. He then took a cigarette out of his pocket and lit it. Taking a long, thoughtful drag, he focused his eyes on Kaiba in the same way a predator would focus on its pray before moving in for the kill.

'Since you're clearly incapable of eating without me around I guess I have no choice but to join you ladies for dinner. This isn't exactly what I wanted to be doing with my evening, so do me a favour and eat quickly.'

'No,' Kaiba's voice trembled as she tried to meet and hold his gaze.

'No you don't want to eat quickly or no you're not going to eat?'

'I'm not going to eat just because you want me to.'

'And I'm not about to let you starve yourself Kaiba.'

'Why not? I thought someone like you would enjoy watching me waste away.'

'You, yes, but that little sin against nature in your stomach needs to be born alive. That's not going to happen if I allow you to starve.'

'That's your problem, not mine.'

'Do you really want me to have to cut that child out of you?'

For a moment Kaiba's already fearful reserve wavered. It was pretty clear she thought this man was more than capable of carrying out his little threat; this knowledge alone made the cold feeling already inside Mai's stomach turn sickening.

'I don't need to force the truth out of you to know you're afraid of me Kaiba,' he took another drag on his cigarette and let out a slow billow of smoke, 'it's written all over your face and in every single little tremor your voice makes. You're trying to act tough, but we both know I've already had you in floods of tears once. You're a pathetic excuse for a man and an unnaturally pitiful excuse for a woman. Honestly Kaiba no matter how I try to look at it, you still make me sick.'

In response she gritted her teeth, balled her hands into fists and tried visibly hard not to lower her head in shame. In her mind Mai tried to justify Kaiba's behaviour as somehow being related to being in Piper's body, flooded with pregnancy hormones. But she knew she wasn't telling herself this for Kaiba's sake, it was for her own. If Kaiba's fear was unnaturally elevated somehow then the situation couldn't be as bad as it looked.

'Poor frightened little lamb,' their captor took yet another drag on his cigarette as his gaze lingered over Kaiba, 'you think your stubbornness will save you, that if you act brave maybe you'll become brave and I'll lose my power over you. But what you don't seem to understand Kaiba is that I've set my fear into you as deeply as it will go, so no amount of trying to act brave will make you brave. And if you don't believe me…'

He crossed the room towards her, making every single step almost painfully antagonising to watch; it was clear this guy knew how to provoke a reaction from even the simplest of actions. Once he reached Kaiba's side, he knelt down beside her and whispered something into her ear. Whatever it was he was saying made her squirm and flinch away from him. Her reaction caused him to laugh cruelly as he pulled himself to his feet and headed towards the door.

'I really don't have the time to waste around here,' he glanced back at them. 'But I expect all three plates to be clear when I get back Kaiba, or else I'll be forced to carry out that little threat of mine. And as much as I would enjoy carrying it out I would really rather things weren't quite so messy.'

With that he left, leaving Kaiba huddled in a humiliated ball. For a few long moments there was complete and utter silence as Mai found herself watching the female Kaiba with a mixture of fearful curiosity and genuine concern.

'I hate him,' her voice came out as little more than a fearful whisper. 'I really, really hate him.'

'Are you... are you okay?' Téa reached a hand towards her, then hesitated.

'I want to get out of here,' she took a deep jagged breath in, 'I want Tristan.'

'I understand…'

'No you don't,' Kaiba lifted her almost tearful gaze towards Téa, 'you don't understand at all. You don't know what's in store for you; what kind of madman we're dealing with. But I do. I do and I'm terrified. I don't do terrified, especially not for other people. And even though you're the ones who need saving, all I can think about is how much I want…' she gave a tearful half laugh, 'how much I want Tristan to rescue me, to protect me. I protect him, I look after him,' she began blinking back the tears forming in her eyes, 'that's how it works. But right now I'd give anything, _anything_ for him to burst in here, throw his arms around me and tell me everything's alright, that's how terrified I am. So don't even try to tell me you understand.'

Mai exchanged looks with Téa; if she thought the cold feeling of fear and sickness in her stomach had been bad before, now they were about a million times worse.

'I miss Joey,' Mai pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them, 'and Jo.'

'We should eat,' Téa gave a heavy sigh and pulled her plate towards her.

'I don't feel like eating,' Kaiba's voice was heavy and dull.

'You're not going to overturn it again, are you?'

'No,' she slowly shook her head, 'I just don't feel like eating right now.'

'So... you are going to eat it then?'

'I don't really have much of a choice.'

'What exactly did he say to you?'

'You don't want to know,' she glanced back up at her, 'but put it this way; I no longer feel so frightened for you guys.'

'That bad?'

'I told you he was a madman, didn't I?'

There were a few moments of mournful silence, during which Mai brought her own plate closer and began picking at the food. There was something about the action which made her heart feel heavy.

'I want to keep my baby,' the almost whispered words were out of Mai's mouth before she even realised they were in her head.

'You're not the only one,' Kaiba's fingers began playing with the material of her wool nightgown. 'You know the Pure was basically a teenager when the First fell pregnant with Set. She was so envious she begged Win to make her pregnant too. He told her she should wait a few more years until she'd finished her physical development; a few months later he was dead,' she rested her head against her arms and turned her gaze towards Mai. 'This situation is stupid, but this child... this is the child the Pure has wanted for so long. I know how much it means to her, so I want it for her sake, but at the same time... at the same time I have no idea what this means to me. I don't know if I want kids or not because right now every time I think about it all I get back is how the Pure feels about it.'

'I guess that must be confusing,' Mai pressed her lips together.

'You don't even know the half,' she sighed.

'I know... I know this is a terrible situation, but...' Téa bit her lower lip and lowered her gaze, 'I... I think I'm glad this is happening.'

'What?' Mai stared at her in confusion.

'I'm not ready to be a mother,' the words blurted out of her. 'In fact, before our captor got me, I was planning to have an abortion.'

'And Yugi was okay with that?'

'Yugi doesn't know. I was scared that if I told him he'd leave me.'

'Oh come on, you've got to be kidding me,' Kaiba rolled her eyes.

'Yugi would never leave you, Téa,' Mai shook her head, 'it's just not in him.'

'But I've barely been with him for five months and I'm already pregnant,' Téa's voice was little more than an excitable squeak, 'that's hardly saying much about me, is it? I'm sure Yugi would think I planned it or something. He'd hate me, then he'd leave me.'

'Oh please, the little self-indulgent self-hater refused to leave your side for three months,' Kaiba shot her a look, 'you two are practically made for each other. If anything I'd be asking if he'd planned it.'

'You think?'

'I know,' she smirked, 'and I can't lie, remember?'


	24. Chapter 24

**Chapter 24**

Almost the same instant SK and Elizabeth had left the personal library of Liekta Arrena, several members of Dayena's council descended upon them. They had taken them to see the Lady of Death, who'd listened to Elizabeth's report of the situation and sent them both back to her library with accompanying council members in tow. If SK had felt like he was being watched before, he was certain of it now.

But that wasn't the only thing he was certain of. Dayena was involved with something she didn't want the Mistresses to know about. He didn't know what it was or why she didn't want them involved, but he knew... he knew there was something. And from the way Elizabeth kept shooting curious looks in his direction he was pretty sure she knew it too. The only problem was he didn't know which side Elizabeth was going to come down on. She'd been working for Dayena for a long time and it was pretty clear her loyalty was absolute, even when she doubted her Lady's motives. It was unlikely he could rely on her for help, but at the same time...

Realising he'd been staring at Elizabeth for an uncomfortable length of time, he forced his attention back towards the books he was supposed to be cataloguing. They were mostly from the last fifty years or so, but the way the books were filled in made them hard to categories by standard practices such as year or surnames or place of death or anything like that. A part of SK couldn't help but wonder how a place which was all about promoting the functionality of ancient information collating practises failed so miserably at the execution of it. Because it was clear from just scanning through a few of these books that they could literally be used at one time on one particular day by one particular scribe then not used again for a good twenty years or so before someone suddenly realised there were still blank pages.

It was things like this which really made SK wish their system was computerised; at least then there would be a proper order to it all. A large part of him wanted to go to the Mistresses Chambers, grab at least one of their computers, come back here and make a start on completely overhauling the system. But something like that was a big job which would require months, if not years to complete and SK didn't have that sort of time to dedicate to it. Not if he was going to be working for the Mistresses again. And he _was_ going to be working for the Mistresses again.

Giving a heavy sigh, his eyes scanned down one of the pages of the book he currently had open in front of him. Whoever scribed it clearly had no sense of what legible handwriting looked like. He was just about to close the book and move on when a name jumped off the page at him and hit him like a freight train.

'Seto Khoral,' his mouth felt dry as he checked the time and date.

An almost sad lump formed in his throat; the last thing he'd expected to come across was his own entry. Blinking his eyes, he closed the book and pushed it to one side. He needed a few seconds to compose himself. It felt strange to think he was just another name, amongst thousands of names, in a book no one was probably going to look at again. It suddenly made him feel insignificant like everything he'd achieved, both before and after his death, meant nothing to anyone but him.

Taking a deep breath, he licked his lips a few times and tried to prepare himself for the next book he was supposed to _catalogue_.

'Late last night, before we went to bed,' his tongue glanced over his lips as the words rolled quietly out of him. 'Mrs O'Leary took a lantern to the shed. The cow knocked it over, winked an eye at her and said. It'll be a hot time, in the old town, tonight. Fire! Fire! Fire!' It took a second for him to realise what he'd just sung and as he did he felt himself roll his eyes. 'Great, I've been spending way too much time with that history skipping weirdo.'

'What was that?' Elizabeth suddenly appeared next to him.

'It was something Jay was singing after a friend of ours died in a fire,' SK lowered his gaze. 'At the time I just thought he was singing it out of shock, now I'm not so sure.'

'Name, date and time?'

'Huh?'

'The friend who died, what is their name and what was the date and time of their death?'

'Why do you want to know?'

'Uh... sorry,' she gave an apologetic laugh, 'Dee's council don't just record deaths you know, we also give out information to people looking for loved ones. There are a lot of dead people with homes on a lot of different Planes, so...'

'People can't always find each other without a little help,' his tongue skated across his lips, 'I get it. Well I know her first name was Nayta, I've never asked about her surname, but she died yesterday, in a fire on Sil.'

'What time yesterday?'

'Sometime in the morning, not sure when exactly.'

'Are you sure it was yesterday?' Elizabeth frowned.

'Yeah.'

'Just a second.'

He watched as she left the library. There was something about the look on her face which made SK certain this situation was about to get even more interesting than it already was. Every inch of him was just itching to find a way of escaping their guards and racing back to the aid of the Mistresses. A feeling intensified by the sight of the thick, leather bound book Elizabeth was carrying when she returned.

'This is the one which was used for your Realm yesterday morning,' she led him over to a nearby table and placed it down, 'at midday it was filled and I changed it over.'

'And…?'

'And, well normally when I change books over I memorise the last three pages.'

'You what?' SK's tongue skated across his lips as he cocked an eyebrow.

'My name appears on the third to last page of the book used the morning I died,' she blushed. 'I then almost instantly took over from the girl who was scribing at the time and filled the last two pages myself. Ever since then…'

'I guess everyone has something,' he licked his lips again.

'I guess,' a weak smile twitched at her lips. 'Anyway, the point to all this is that your friend's name doesn't appear on any of the pages used for yesterday morning's loggings.'

'I thought you only memorised the last three pages.'

'I do and they were the only ones used yesterday morning. And you can check for yourself, there's no Nayta listed.'

'Maybe she was listed under her Standing name.'

'Unlikely,' she shook her head, 'after the awakening occurred, all birth records for Silkoneons and Odraians in your native Realm were altered to show their true names, even if they don't use them. And those are the names they will be logged under when they die.'

'So what you're saying is…?'

'What I'm saying is either this Nayta girl of yours wasn't really awakened or she's still alive out there.'


	25. Chapter 25

**Chapter 25**

Sighing heavily, Joey stared sightlessly out of the window. It was winter, it was late and the miserable weather outside just made it all the worse. It didn't help that they'd spent the last few hours on a conversational loop as they tried to figure out where Serenity fit into the pattern of abductions. The problem was, no matter how hard Joey tried to find some logic to it, his sister just didn't fit in. She was set like a square peg in a round hole and that really didn't sit well with him.

Behind him Jo stirred in her crib. She made a small, almost minute sound, but it was enough to make Joey feel incredibly alone. Making his way over to her he gently lifted her out of her crib.

'You know it's not good to disturb a sleeping baby, don't you?' His mother's voice sounded from the doorway.

'Don't tell me how to raise my own children,' he kept his voice soft and calm as his eyes shot daggers at her.

'You know, you really impressed me today.'

'_Really_?'

'Yes,' she took half a step towards him, 'you've grown up a lot.'

'I didn't really have a choice.'

'Parenthood can be like that.'

'That's not what I mean.'

'Then…?'

'It doesn't matter,' he sighed and turned his head away from her. 'Do you want me to take you home?'

'Can't I stay here for the night?'

'I guess,' he shrugged, 'I'll get Ahna to sort out one of the free rooms for you.'

'You know that Ahna really is a nice girl, why didn't things work out between you?'

'Where do I start?'

'I have time if you want to talk.'

'Sorry, but I've done more than enough talking for one day,' carefully he lowered Jo back down into her crib. 'I'll get Ahna to sort a room for you,' he made his way towards the door, 'then I'm going to bed. And, if I'm not too preoccupied with finding my sister and wife tomorrow, then maybe, just maybe, I'll find the time to fill you in on my life. But I wouldn't hold your breath.'

* * *

She was faster than he'd anticipated. Or maybe he was more exhausted than he thought he would be. Either way, he was struggling to keep up with her as she stalked her way through the darkened streets. Now she'd hit the open air he was worried she'd completely forget what it was she was supposed to be tracking. The further she got ahead of him, the less of an effect his childish rhymes had on her. It was impossible; he was too weak to overpower her, too exhausted to keep up with her and too far away to make her listen. He was losing control. He was losing control and there was nothing he could do about it.

His heart pounded hard in his chest as she disappeared from sight. He was overwhelmingly tired, his body ached and his strength was sapped to the point where the only thing which had kept him going was the thought of not losing her. But now she was no longer in view his whole being just gave up and within seconds he found himself colliding face first with the ground. As he did the sound of loud, sarcastic clapping met his ears.

'And all this time I was worried that interfering old hag had sent a real challenge after me, I guess I was wrong about that,' there was a darkly amused laugh. 'I should have known from all the rhyming you were going to create yourself a little pet, but Veronsen are notoriously difficult to control even when you have no choice but to talk to them in the only language they truly understand.'

'Mary had a little lamb...' his voice was as weak as he was as he tried to push himself up from the ground.

'Don't bother, there's no way she can hear you now,' the level of sardonic amusement in the voice was cringe worthy. 'You can lie in the mud like the corpse you are and mutter all the nursery rhymes you want, but it won't help you. Not anymore. You're beat and you know it. You're just lucky I like watching people suffer or else I'd put you out of your misery.'

'Mary had a little lamb...'

'You know I believe the Kaiba mansion is near here,' he felt the sole of his tormentors foot stomp into his back, 'I bet you anything that's where your little pet is heading right now, don't you agree? To a simple minded creature like that all that power must smell like dinner. I wonder if I should watch,' the foot twisted against his back, 'care to join me?'

'Mary had a little lamb...'

'Oh who am I kidding,' the foot lifted, 'a corpse like you would be dead before we reached the Kaiba mansion,' another dark laugh rippled out through the night air as his tormenter walked away. 'Goodbye Jay, I'd say it's been nice knowing you, but... that would be a lie.'

* * *

A streak of lightning lit up the whole garden revealing a figure stood just too far away to make out who it was. Curious as to the identity of the intruder, Mokuba grabbed a poker from the fireside of the room he was in and made his way out into the garden. The girl was so drained of colour it took him until he was within a few paces of her to recognise who it was. When he did the poker instantly dropped from his hands.

'Serenity,' Mokuba's eyes felt wide with a mixture of fear and confusion, 'are you okay?'

Her milky blue eyes stared pleadingly at him as she shook her head.

'What... what happened to you?'

She didn't reply. Instead she dove into his arms and trembled like a lost puppy. Protectively he held her to him, praying with everything in him his brother wasn't in a similar state somewhere. After a few moments of just standing there with her, he tried to lead her back towards the warmth of the house. But she wouldn't budge.

'Come on,' he found himself carefully studying her features, 'we'll get you warmed up and let your brother know you're sort of safe.'

Her milky blue eyes met with his again; so pleading, so vulnerable and innocent. Her hands gripped lightly onto his arms as she shook her head again.

'Come on,' he tried again to lead her towards the house, 'we need to…'

Before he could finish his sentence he found her lips pressed against his. The touch was icy and it made his whole body feel numb. It took a few seconds for him to realise she was drawing something out of him. Something which made his head spin in a disorientating manner and his whole body feel weak. Then, just as he felt as though he was about to pass out, something sparked within him and he found himself tightening his grip on her. The same spark made him pull back whatever it was she was drawing out of him. She tried to break away, but he wouldn't... no couldn't let her. His head swarmed sickly. He had no idea what he was doing. He had no idea why he was doing it. But he knew... he knew he couldn't let her go until he'd taken something back from her. He just didn't know what that something was.

As the kiss continued he could feel his body start to change. It began in the roots of his hair and bled like bleach down through the whole of his body. It was like a venomous poison. Like death. But he didn't care. That spark... that single spark which had caused him to fight back wanted this... needed this. And when he finally let go of her, he was as colourless as she was. The spinning in his head had stopped and his milky eyes met with hers.

For a long time the two of them just stood there staring at each other. It was clear to him his transformation wasn't the reason she'd come here, but that didn't matter. Her eyes began to flick about in a curious manner as she lightly traced the features of his face. He found himself lowering his head to her respectfully, letting her know he belonged to her. This made her smile. Her hand lowered to meet with his and silently the pair of them made their way out of the garden and out into the freedom of the night.


	26. Chapter 26

**Chapter 26**

Hours of arguing back and forth had taken its toll on all of them. Tristan and Mokuba had left the Southern Palace a little after nine, two hours later Tristan found himself tossing and turning in his bed, frustrated that a whole day had been wasted and literally no progress had been made. Hell they'd even gone so far as to make reverse progress happen in the form of Joey's missing sister.

A noise of frustration escaped him as he flipped onto his back and slammed his fists into the mattress behind him. He was exhausted, but he couldn't sleep. He just kept thinking about how the bed felt too big, how the room felt too empty and too cold and about a dozen other clichés which all amounted to the same thing. He missed Kaiba.

Sighing heavily, he rolled onto his side and closed his eyes. The faint smell of his companion drifted towards him, making his heart ache. Desperately he tried to imagine the feel of his chest under his head, the soft beating of his heart, the deep sound of his breathing, everything which made him feel safe. Everything which suddenly felt so far away. Tears sprang to his eyes and silently rolled their way down his cheeks. He was miserably alone and exhausted, so why not cry himself to sleep?

* * *

Being chained up wasn't exactly the most restful experience in the world, but somehow he'd managed to drift off to sleep. Although truth was he only realised he had when his eyes opened onto the familiar, softly lit room of the dream world he and Tristan shared. He wasn't totally sure how he'd managed to end up here with his powers currently cut off to him, but then there was a lot about shared dreaming he didn't understand. It was why neither he nor Tristan could control it; not yet anyway.

'Tristan,' he gently nudged the heavily sleeping form resting against him, 'Tristan, please wake up, I need you.'

No matter how many times he'd used the phrase in their shared world, Kaiba couldn't help but think _wake up_ was the wrong thing to say in a dream. Still, it hadn't failed to work before and now was no exception.

'Good morning,' Tristan's voice was soft, as he stretched and stared up at him, 'I was having this horrible dream where someone had stolen you away from me.'

'That wasn't a dream Tristan, this is.'

'Please don't tell me that.'

'I'm sorry, but I don't have a choice,' Kaiba shifted his gaze away, 'I... I need you to... I need you to rescue me.'

The words instantly made Tristan sit up. Glancing towards him Kaiba couldn't help but note the look of intense concern and anxiety on his face. It was a look which let him know he was loved, but at the same time it filled him with his own feelings of concern. What if the stress of this situation was too much for Tristan? What if...?

'I need you to tell me where you are,' Tristan's voice cut off his train of thoughts. 'We've been trying to find you but we have no idea where to start; is there anything you can tell us which might help?'

'It's a basement, with a door that leads out onto street level. But I have no idea where.'

'Are you alone?'

'No,' he shook his head, 'Téa and Mai are here too.'

'And Serenity?'

'Serenity?' Kaiba stared at him in confusion. 'No,' he eventually shook his head again, 'she's not with us.'

'What about Jay?'

'I haven't seen him,' he frowned. 'What's going on?'

'You wouldn't believe just how ridicules this situation has become,' Tristan sighed. 'There are a lot of people missing, but all I can think about is how much I miss you.'

'I know,' he lowered his gaze again, 'that's why... Please Tristan I need you to save me.'

'You're afraid,' Tristan's face filled with a look of terrified disbelief. 'What's going on? Who took you? What are they doing to you? And why...?'

'I…' his own sentence was cut off by a sharp feeling in his stomach tugging him back to reality. 'Tristan,' he felt his eyes bulge with fear.

'No, you can't go yet Seto, please. You have to stay with me; I need to know what's going on if I'm going to help you.'

'I'll try, but…' there was another sharp tug, 'I don't think I can hold on,' his face fell in despair.

'You have to,' his eyes flickered about in a pleading manner. 'We've been talking about finding ways of controlling these shared dreams of ours and now is as good a time as any to start trying. Please, stay with me.'

'I don't think I can.'

'Please.'

'I…'

But it was too late. Reality jolted its way through him and he found himself trapped again within the confines of his former female counterpart.

'No,' despair welled up inside of him as he stared around the basement. 'No, no, no, no, no, no, no.'

As the words moaned out of him there was a strange sensation in his protruding stomach which caused him to look down. At first he had no idea what it was, but then something slowly dawned on him; the baby was kicking, that's what woke him up.

'You're alive,' he laughed in disbelief, 'you're actually alive.'

The kicking sensation came again and with it the realisation this unseen living being needed him. With mixed and uncertain feelings he found himself wrapping his arms around his stomach.

'At first it was just me and my brother,' he kept his voice low so he wouldn't wake the others, 'and I took care of him because he needed me. Then there was Tristan and I took care of him because in some strange way we needed each other. And now... now there's you and I... I... I know I'm going to take care of you too. Not because I have to, not because you need me to, but... but because I want to.'

A strange and unexpected laugh rippled out of him as he was suddenly filled with an overwhelming love for his child. It had hit him with such ferocity there was no doubt in his mind these were his own feelings and not the Pure's. He didn't care whether or not this was how he was supposed to feel or if it was just the extreme nature of the situation at work. All he knew was so long as he had breath to fight he would do everything in his power to stop the madman who had captured them from killing his baby.

The kicking sensation came again and this time he smiled. No matter how weird the feeling or how unnatural the situation, the kicking felt good to him. It was an acknowledgement of the fragile life growing inside of him; a halo of good in a pit of darkness.

'No matter what happens I won't let him hurt you, I promise. And even if I have to die to make sure you're safe, you'll still have Tristan to look after you. And he will look after you because he's your Dad and if I love you, then he'll love you; I know he will,' he leant his head back against the wall. 'And if he doesn't, then I'll come back from the dead and force him to change his mind. I'll be the Pure then too so he'll have no choice but to listen.'

The baby kicked again and he couldn't help but laugh.

'You'd better be smarter than Crovell for all this trouble you're causing Taylor Kaiba,' he lowered his head as a strange feeling of pride moved through him. 'Taylor Kaiba, sounds weird, but... I guess it's who you are.'

* * *

'Right, that's it Dayena,' SK crashed angrily into her chamber, 'you've messed me around for more than long enough. I don't know what sort of game it is you think you're playing here, but I have had just about enough of it.'

'I knew I should have posted more of my council members to watch you,' a sly smile tugged at her lips. 'You're stubborn, head strong and very trusting of your instincts, everything a good Helper should be.'

'I don't want to just be a good Helper,' his jaw line hardened, 'I want to be the best. And if that means taking you on in order to get back to the Mistresses then you'd better believe I'm going to do it.'

'You're not just slow boiling all that lovely potential you have, are you,' she found herself studying him, 'you're really starting to live up to it now. But you've barely even begun to discover who you are. Or rather, who you will be.'

'Stop being so cryptic and tell me the real reason you moved me onto your council, because I don't believe for a second this little charade of yours has anything to do with me accepting my death.'

'You're right, it doesn't. There are a great many reasons why I brought you here, but for now I will give you the most important one. I brought you here to test you.'

'Test me?'

'Whether you realise it or not SK, you are exceptional. There have been few Guardians who could have done what you've managed to do and not be completely destroyed by it. But just because you have the potential to surpass Octan, doesn't mean you will. And for now it was more important to make sure you really have what it takes to serve the Mistresses on your own.'

'On my own?' SK's tongue skated across his lips. 'Why would I be on my own? What about… what about Jay?'

'Jay has a different destiny, he always has. He's one of six you know, all important for different reasons, but only Jay's destiny had an uncertainty attached to it.'

'An uncertainty?' He frowned.

'His destiny could only be fulfilled if certain other events were to conspire. They have, therefore his destiny has come to him. Unfortunately, due to the nature of this destiny, there is no guarantee he will make it out of this situation with his existence intact and it is more than likely he will rejoin the light.'

'What...?' His expression crumpled.

'I'm sorry; I know you have become rather attached to him. But there is a high probability he will either fall by his own hand or he will be sentence to ascension.' 'What...? I... I don't understand...'

'In order to fulfil his destiny Jay must commit a sin punishable by death or ascension under Balance Law. There are very few exceptions made to this rule and I'm not certain the circumstances will be enough to save him.'

'Why... why are you making him do this?' SK's tongue glanced over his lips again as he slowly shook his head.

'I am not making him do it. When we... when we told him what must happen he had a choice; he could have just walked away.'

'But it's not in his nature to just walk away.'

'I know and that is why I get the feeling...' she cut herself off. 'In order to stop the Council from finding him too quickly his records were altered. He has a few days at the most before they'll cotton on to what's happening and send their Balancers after him. You must make certain the sacrifice he's making is not in vain.'

'Of course, I'll do anything.'

'Then go do what you do best SK,' she forced a smile onto her face as she met his gaze, 'go help the Mistresses.'


	27. Chapter 27

**Chapter 27**

'Lus braysta, lus braysta,' Tristan burst into Mokuba's room not caring how late it was or how tired the younger boy might be. 'Lus braysta, your brother…'

His sentence stopped dead when he realised the younger boy wasn't in his room. Remembering Mokuba's restlessness earlier in the evening, Tristan made his way downstairs and began searching the lower floor for him. A part of him felt anxious that all the stress created by his brother's disappearance might have caused Mokuba to have a relapse. Shared dreaming was deeper than normal sleep, so it was possible Tristan had completely missed Mokuba's nightmare induced screams.

A fearful feeling of déjà vu began to creep over him as he eliminated room after room in his search. Making his way back upstairs he continued to move between rooms, but strong instincts were already starting to tell him Mokuba would not be so easily found. He was right. His whole body trembled with strong feelings of despair as he sat down at the top of the stairs and ran his fingers back through his hair. One missing Kaiba was bad enough; he really couldn't handle both going missing.

'Are you okay?' He nearly jumped out of his skin when SK's voice sounded from behind him.

'No,' he shook his head, 'I'm anything but okay.'

'Is there anything I can get for you to calm you down?'

A choked sounding laugh made its way out of Tristan. He placed his hand over his mouth in order to prevent it from continuing as he turned his gaze towards SK.

'I can't... I can't take anything else right now,' he swallowed hard. 'I... I'll just have to cope till morning. Just till morning. I can do that.'

'Are you sure?'

'It's not like I have much of a choice, is it? What are you doing here anyway?'

'Serving the Mistresses.'

'I thought Dayena transferred you onto her Council.'

'She's released me back to you guys.'

'So you actually accepted your death then?' Tristan tried to make his voice sound light and joking, but it came out as more of a tearful crackle.

'Hardly, but then that was never the real reason for the transfer anyway,' his tongue skated across his lips. 'So what's going on? What have I missed?'

'Oh nothing much, just both of your cousins going missing.'

'What? When?'

'Seto sometime yesterday morning; Mokuba sometime tonight. Mai's gone too and Serenity and Téa and Jay,' he gave a strained half laugh. 'We've got quite a list going.'

'Well I know about Jay. Or at least I partially know about Jay,' he lowered his gaze.

'What do you mean? What do you know?'

'Right now, it doesn't matter, I don't know enough of the details to really tell you much and what I do know should be left for when everyone's together. Think it's too late to wake them?'

'Probably,' he gave a weary sigh, 'I mean, I'm only up because…' he hesitated.

'Because?'

'Because I saw Seto.'

'What? Where?'

'In a shared dream.'

'You managed to use a shared dream to find him?' SK's tongue skated across his lips again.

'Not exactly.'

'What do you mean not exactly?'

'I mean neither one of us deliberately set out to dream share tonight. We don't. We don't understand the ability enough to be able to control it like that.'

'What about the Pure and Win, could they have been able to control it?' SK studied him.

'Funnily enough they don't understand the ability like that either. They were barely starting to get control over it themselves when Win died. In other words there's no way we're going to be able to use it to keep in contact with Seto.'

'Okay, did you manage to learn anything from your shared dream?' SK licked his lips as he folded his arms.

'Just that he's in a basement somewhere, but he doesn't know where. And that Téa and Mai are with him, but he hasn't seen Jay or Serenity.'

'How did he seem?'

Tristan pressed his lips together and averted his gaze.

'Tristan how did he seem?'

'If I tell you, you have to promise not to tell the others,' he forced his gaze up to meet with the Helper's.

'Okay...'

'I think... no I'm sure he was terrified. That look in his eyes, I've never seen anything like it before. Something has him seriously afraid and he barely does fear, never mind...' he shook his head and shrugged at his own loss of words.

'Wow.'

'Something made him wake up before I could find out why he was taken or what was happening or anything else. I woke up not long after to find Mokuba missing.'

'So what do we do now?'

'We wait till morning; the others need to get as much sleep as they can. A part of me would like to get some more too, but... I really don't think I can. So, I think you need to tell me everything that happened whilst you were with Dayena. I mean, what was her real reason for taking you?'

'To test me,' he licked his lips again. 'Or at least that's the reason she gave.'

'Test you for what exactly?'

'To be a solo Helper.'

'Solo Helper?' Tristan stared at him in confusion. 'I think you better start this from the beginning SK and go from there.'

* * *

Duke had been woken a little after dawn by Covo, sent to bring him to the Southern Palace. Now, a little after seven, everyone was gathered in the room the Lutoni household referred to as the family room listening to everything SK and Tristan had to tell them.

'Dayena wouldn't tell me much about what's actually going on,' SK's tongue skated across his lips. 'Although I'm certain she knows, but that doesn't matter. All that matters is just how serious this situation has become.'

'Octan said Jay was destined once,' Catilin tilted her head from side to side.

'Huh?'

'I could tell the difference between them you know,' she focused her gaze on SK. 'Me and Octan used to talk a lot. Not as much as me and Jay, but almost sometimes. And I remember this conversation where he told me Jay was destined, but he didn't say what his destiny was. I just figured he didn't know.'

'But he knew Jay was destined for something?'

'Yeah, but all the Jay's in the Circle of Six are.'

'Dayena said something similar,' SK frowned as his tongue moved across his lips again. 'But did Octan happen to mention to you that this destiny of Jay's would probably result in his ascension?'

'Mm,' she nodded, 'he was kinda happy about it too. I think Octan has been around for way too long and he's tired now.'

'But what about Jay? You can't honestly say he's ready to leave us yet.'

'Nu-uh, he's not, he loves us all too much and if he ascends he'll never get to see any of us again. I can't see him being happy about that, but...'

'But?'

'He loves the Mistresses. Maybe he wasn't meant to be a Guardian or the Helper, but that doesn't mean he didn't love his job. If he's doing this for them then I think... no,' she lowered her head, 'I know he would do it, regardless of the consequences. That's just who he is.'

'Why can't you talk like that all the time,' Tristan rolled his eyes, 'it's so much less annoying than the babyish drivel you normally go with.'

'But I talk the way I talk because it's the way I talk,' she blinked at him, 'I can't help it.'

'Whatever,' he folded his arms, 'I think it's time this conversation focused a little less on Jay and a little more on the rest of them.'

'I couldn't agree more,' Joey got to his feet. 'So, where do we start?'


	28. Chapter 28

**Chapter 28**

After an uncomfortable night sleep, Mai slowly found herself waking up. Her whole body felt stiff and achy, not to mention thoroughly un-rested. Wearily she opened her eyes and stared down at the chains binding her to the wall not so far behind where she'd been sleeping. It was hardly the most welcoming sight in the world, but she was slowly starting to get used to it. Sighing heavily, she sat herself up and glanced over at the other two. Téa was still asleep and the female Kaiba was sat with her head rested against the wall, staring absently up at the ceiling.

'You okay?'

'Yeah, just thinking.'

'About what?'

'About how all six of us are going to get out of this.'

'Six of us?' Mai frowned.

'Yeah,' she nodded, glancing across at her, 'six of us.'

'You're counting the babies too, aren't you?'

'Of course.'

'Come up with anything good?' Mai sighed again as she shuffled backwards and leant her own head against the wall.

'Nothing which doesn't involve us all staying here for at least another twenty-four hours.'

'Because of the thing round your ankle?'

'Got it in one,' she gave an exasperated sigh. 'It's an impractical drawback, but at least the guys know to basement hunt for us now.'

'Huh?'

'I spoke to Tristan last night.'

'How?'

'Through our shared dream.'

'Shared dream? But... how; I thought your powers were being blocked.'

'They are, so my guess is that Tristan somehow pulled me into it, but I can't be completely sure; neither of us really know how shared dreaming works,' she tilted her head in thought. 'Not that it matters, the important thing here is that they'll have a rough idea where to start looking for us now. Although they don't know about...' she stared down at her bump, 'Taylor kind of woke me up before I had the chance.'

'Taylor?'

'Yeah,' she smiled strangely, 'that's what I've named her.'

'You named her Taylor?' Mai wasn't totally sure she believed she was actually having this conversation with Kaiba.

'It's Tristan's surname, but it's also non-gender specific, so I figured it would make a nice name for her.'

'Okay… who are you and what have you done with the real Kaiba?'

'I am the real Kaiba.'

'Then being in Piper's body must seriously be screwing with your head.'

'Why? Just because I've already named my future daughter already?' She lowered her head and shrugged. 'I seem to remember you having Jo's name picked out from the beginning.'

'That was different. For a start I'd already met her and secondly, I wasn't you.'

'Geez, thanks Mai,' Kaiba rolled her eyes.

'You know what I mean.'

'Whatever,' she shook her head. 'So any thoughts on yours yet?'

'Mine?' She frowned, staring down at her own bump. 'You know, I really hadn't thought about it. But then again I did promise Joey he'd get to name the next one.'

'So we can expect something incredibly Silkoneon then,' she rolled her eyes again, 'either that or Valentine.'

'Valentine?'

'Think Crovell Lutoni and you'll get it.'

'Like you can really talk,' Mai laughed and shook her head.

'Who said I was trying to,' she shrugged again. 'I was just pointing out the fact Wheeler is hardly known for imaginative names.'

'And you base that on the naming of his son?' She cocked an eyebrow at her. 'You know full well the reasons behind that.'

'Yeah, well, whatever.'

There was a long silence and Mai found herself studying the female Kaiba, not totally sure if the conversation between them really was as weird as it felt. After all, if Kaiba were anyone but Kaiba their conversation would have been completely normal, not to mention justified. But it was Kaiba she'd been having the conversation with, it didn't matter if _he_ was trapped in Piper's body or not, _he_ still shouldn't be having conversations like this. She sighed and shifted her gaze towards the metal tables. She'd known from the beginning there was a reason she kept thinking of the female Kaiba as a _she_, it was to make situations like this almost normal.

'Do you think they'll find us soon?' Mai forced herself to break the silence.

'I don't know,' Kaiba shrugged for a third time. 'I don't even know if I want them too. I mean, if I'm going to be stuck here till tomorrow anyway, then them getting here today really isn't going to be much use to me. In fact the only good thing which could happen if they find us early is getting to watch them break the guy who's done this to us into a million pieces. Or getting them to take this damn thing off my neck and letting me do it,' she laughed. 'I think I would enjoy that.'

'Now that's an honest answer if ever I've heard one,' she grinned. 'You think we should wake Téa up?'

'What would be the point; it's not like there's much she can do awake anyway.'

'So why aren't you still asleep?'

'Same reason you're not, I guess.'

There was a momentary pause.

'Think he'll be back to feed us soon?' Mai shifted her gaze towards the stairwell.

'God I hope so,' Kaiba pulled a face, 'you wouldn't believe how hungry I am.'

'I know what you mean,' she laughed, 'but at least you're not carrying one of Joey's offspring.'

'Thankfully. What the hell do you see in that blond idiot anyway?'

'This coming from the guy dating his best friend?'

'Whatever, Mai,' she smirked, rolling her eyes, 'whatever.'

* * *

They didn't have an aversion to daylight exactly. In fact the gentle rays of the sun felt good against their skin. The problem was they'd been up all night and now they were exhausted. The night had brought them a whole new world of experiences. It had started with the hunger. An unbearable, seemingly unquenchable hunger which drove them from meal to meal feasting until somehow they eventually managed to feel full.

Once they were, they'd stalked their way back to their nest and a new instinctive urge overtook them. A desire for each other. The experience was base, animalistic and wild, but that was exactly how they wanted it to be. As morning arrived their urges found satisfaction and they'd curled up next to each other for a day of well earned sleep. This new life clearly had a lot in store for them and they were both excited for it to begin.

In so many ways it was strange just how natural it all felt. As though their lives before had been nothing more than a dream waiting for them to wake up to this reality. It felt as though this forms they had now and these lives they would live because of it had always been theirs; waiting just below the surface of that other existence for the right time to emerge.

It was a good feeling and one which allowed them to sleep completely in tune, to the point where their breathing rose and fell in syncopation. They dreamt of nothing. They didn't need to dream. All they needed to do was wait for their hunger to return and then... then their new world of experience would start all over again.


	29. Chapter 29

**Chapter 29**

It was approaching mid afternoon and the eight of them had divided into two teams. Team A consisted of SK, Tristan, Joey and Yugi, who were systematically searching Domino City for signs of Mai, Téa and Kaiba. Covo, Ahna, Duke and Catilin made up team B and it was up to them to search Sil for Jay, Mokuba or Serenity. Of course these were just their primary goals and each team searched with the idea of locating all six missing persons in mind.

Jo and Crovell had been left, somewhat grudgingly, in the capable hands of Korin and Joey's mother back at the Southern Palace. The group had agreed the Southern Palace made the most sense as a base of operation since at least four of the six missing people had disappeared on Earth and not Sil. Although somewhere in the back of SK's head he wasn't sure where they'd disappeared from really made that much of a difference.

In the time since they'd set out on their little hunt, SK had learnt only one thing about the situation; basement hunting was not easy, especially in a city the size of Domino. To make matters worse he had to constantly deal with the nagging thought in the back of his head telling him there was a chance none of them were still on Earth, never mind Domino City. The thoughts he was having weren't the same kind of all consuming certain ones he'd had during his time working for Dayena. They nagged at him more as a distraction from all the doom and gloom talk his companions were insisting upon. He understood they were worried; he just wished their worry didn't automatically mean the end of everything.

When Jay had suddenly stumbled out of nowhere, it had taken SK a few minutes to even register it was him. He was so unbelievably pale and hollow looking that if SK didn't know he was already dead, he would swear he was dying right there before their eyes. It turned his insides cold as he remembered Dayena's words and suddenly the likelihood of Jay making it out of this situation dropped into negative numbers.

'Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water. Jack fell down and broke his crown. And Jill came tumbling after,' Jay gave an exhausted half laugh as he made his way towards them. 'Up Jack got and home he trot, as fast as he could caper. And went to bed and covered his head, in vinegar and brown paper.'

'Jay, are you... are you okay?' SK's tongue skated across his lips several times.

'Little Bo Peep, has lost her sheep and can't tell where to find them. Leave them alone and they'll come home, wagging their tails behind them,' Jay gave a dismissive flick of his hand as he swayed backwards.

'What?'

'Little Bo Peep, fell fast asleep and dreamt she heard them bleating. But when she awoke, she found it a joke, for they were still a-fleeting.'

'Um… Jay, you do realise you're singing a nursery rhyme, right?' Joey frowned at him.

'Twinkle, twinkle little star, how I wonder what you are,' he rolled his eyes.

'I'll take that as a yes,' he cocked an eyebrow. 'So I guess the real question is, why?'

'Mary, Mary, quite contrary, how does your garden grow? With cockle shells and silver bells and pretty maids all in a row.'

'Huh?'

'Rock-a-bye baby, on the tree top. When the wind blows, the cradle will rock. When the branch breaks, the cradle will fall. And down will come baby, cradle and all.'

'I'm still not following you.'

Jay buried his face in his hands and made a loud, angry noise of frustration. For a few long moments he just stood there trembling and the sight turned SK's already uncomfortable insides colder than they already were. Was Jay going insane? Was he in some stage of ascension? What?

'Mary had a little lamb, whose fleece was as white as snow.' Jay lowered his hands and slowly lifted his gaze to meet with theirs again. 'And everywhere that Mary went, the lamb was sure to go. It followed her to school one day, which was against the rules. It made the children laugh and play, to see a lamb at school.' He swallowed hard. 'And so the teacher turned it out, but still it lingered near. And waited patiently about, till Mary did appear. Why does the lamb love Mary so, the eager children cry. Why Mary loves the lamb you know, the teacher did reply.'

'Okay…' Tristan blinked, 'but are you the lamb or Mary?'

'I think he's both,' SK found himself licking his lips repeatedly again. 'I also don't think he's able to talk in anything but nursery rhymes.'

'Well done Sherlock and just what gave that away?'

'There's no need to be like that Tristan, I was just saying.'

'Whatever,' he shrugged, 'anyone fancy hazarding a guess at what he's trying to tell us?'

'I think I have a better solution.' Joey folded his arms and turned his attention back towards the exhausted Jay. 'If I were to ask you if you knew what had happened to Mai, Téa and Kaiba, what would you say?'

'Mary, Mary, quite contrary, how does your garden grow? With silver bells and cockle shells and pretty maids all in a row.' Jay gave a heavy sigh.

'And Serenity?'

'Little Bo Peep, has lost her sheep and doesn't know where to find them.' His gaze lowered.

'And Mokuba?'

A look of pure confusion pulled across Jay's face. For a few long moments he just stared at Joey, before shaking his head.

'You mean you don't know about Mokuba?'

He shook his head again.

'That's not good,' Tristan exchanged worried glances with the others.

'One, two, three, four, five, once I caught a fish alive. Six, seven, eight, nine, ten, then I let it go again. Why did you let it go? Because it bit my finger so. Which finger did it bite? This little finger on my right.'

'That's not exactly useful Jay.'

'Little Bo Peep, has lost her sheep. One, two, three, four, five.' Jay wrinkled his nose and gave an apologetic shrug.

'Wait,' Yugi frowned, 'are you saying Mokuba might be with Serenity?'

He titled his head thoughtfully from side to side for a few seconds, before nodding.

'So where is Serenity?'

'Little Bo Peep, has lost her sheep.'

'Are you saying you don't know?'

'No,' Joey shook his head, 'he's saying he did know, but he doesn't anymore.'

'Mary had a little lamb, whose fleece was as white as snow.' A sad smile twitched at Jay's lips.

'Uh-oh,' a look of realisation suddenly crept across his face. 'Jay, Serenity's not… she's not your lamb, is she?'

'Mary had a little lamb…'

'Whose fleece was as white as snow.'

'Err, Joey, mind telling the rest of us what you just figured out,' Tristan cocked an eyebrow at him.

'Veronsen.'

'Veronsen…?' His face fell and he exchanged a concerned look with Yugi. 'No,' he shook his head, 'no... you're not serious... Veronsen?'

'Um…' SK licked his lips, 'someone mind filling me in? What's a Veronsen?'

'The one unredeemable crime a person can commit,' Joey's voice little more than a quiet whisper, 'creating something which is neither living, nor dead, to track down and consume powers.'

'Veronsen,' Tristan's voice was dry and mute, 'the other worldly dogs of vengeance.'


	30. Chapter 30

**Chapter 30**

He hadn't expected his father and the others to return until nightfall. So when they returned at least three hours early, accompanied by a rather exhausted looking Jay he wasn't exactly filled with confidence. Without even thinking about the consequences, he Jumped himself out of his elderly minder's arms and into his father's in order to get a better judge of the situation. His rather startled father blinked down at him, before giving an understanding smile and turning his attention back towards the others.

'I read in a scroll that Veronsen only understand people when they talk in children's rhymes,' Catilin clapped her hands together.

'That's not totally true,' his father tilted his head to one side, 'they have a basic understanding of language, or rather they can understand what a person means from how they say things even if they don't totally understand what's said.'

'Like we can just about guess what Jay's trying to get at when he's talking in rhyme?' She pressed her lips together.

'Something like that.'

'So who put the spell on Jay?'

'What makes you so sure he didn't put it on himself?' SK's tongue skated across his lips.

'Because it's not a spell you can put on yourself,' Catilin stared at him as though it were obvious. 'Someone else had to have done it.'

'It's also a time based spell,' his father's voice was filled with a tense level of seriousness, 'meaning not only would it have taken a few hours to kick in properly, it also has a time limit. It will run out eventually.'

'Eventually when?' SK licked his lips again.

'I don't know, the time limit can vary based on the wording of the spell used, but my guess is it was set up to last for however long whoever put it on him thought he would need.'

'By whoever you mean Dayena, Arrena or Mov, right?' He folded his arms. 'They were the three who spoke to Jay right before he started acting weird.'

'I don't understand why they would do something like this without talking to me first,' his father's jaw line hardened, 'if they know where Mai and the others are...'

'I don't think they do hiet braysta, not completely,' Catilin tilted her head from side to side. 'Veronsen are like tracker dogs for power. They'd be able to sniff out where the Pure and Win Mai are no problem. But if you already know where they are why sniff them out?'

'That's a good point; but after tracking the level of power Kaiba and Mai contain a Veronsen would have to feed and I don't see one being satisfied with the power of a Nethher Herin somehow.'

'Maybe Jay was planning on feeding her the person who took them.'

'Great, add to my concerns the person who took them is ridiculously powerful why don't you?' His father half glared at her. 'But even if this person is more than powerful enough to satisfy one hunger crazed Veronsen, I doubt they'd be enough for two. And, assuming that's what happened to Mokuba, we have two of them on our hands now.'

'Mokuba wouldn't just run off at a time like this,' Tristan folded his arms. 'He also has a pretty powerful power scent, since he's also a Win Part. If Serenity was drawn to him, then it's safe to say she started feeding. The problem is Mokuba's under sixteen so...'

'So...?' SK licked his lips again.

'You have to think of a Veronsen being like a Vampire in more ways than one. Okay they feed on power and life force rather than blood, but the result is the same; under normal circumstances they suck their victims dry. But if their victim happens to be under the age of sixteen instead of dying they somehow become Veronsen themselves. Nobody's sure how it happens, but we all know why.'

'Wolf in sheep's clothing,' Catilin grinned, 'just like in a fairytale.'

'Some fairytale,' Tristan shook his head in despair. 'But until further notice I guess we'll have to halt our search for them; at least until we create a cure.'

'There's a cure?' SK frowned.

'Yeah, there's a cure. I mean, they were created through artificial means and suspended between life and death. We just have to figure out how to bring them back to life.'

'Or tip them over to death,' his father's voice was low and sorrowful.

'I'd rather we avoided doing it that way and I'm sure you would too,' Tristan met and held his gaze. 'Knowing Jay he's probably got a copy of the spell or ritual or whatever to bring them back to life hidden away somewhere just in case something went wrong.'

'Are you sure? It's not as though he had a lot of time to prepare.'

'Come on, this is Jay we're talking about here, he'd make the time,' SK was firm and almost commanding. 'Tell you what, Catilin and I will go looking for it. I think it's best if Jay stays here under guard until further notice'

'Couldn't have put it better myself,' his father nodded. 'I also think its best if the rest of us call off the search for the day. It'll be getting dark soon and Veronsen are generally more active at night.'

'Agreed,' Tristan let out a sharp breath, 'but I'd like to sleep here until this situation is resolved. Me in an empty house is not a good idea right now.'

'Sure,' he shot him an understanding look, 'it'll be safer if we're all in one place anyway.'

* * *

'Exactly how powerful is my grandson?' Mrs. Wheeler's voice sounded from the doorway, just as Ahna was putting her son down for the night.

'He's one of the six most powerful beings in the universe,' Ahna found it impossible to keep the pride out of her voice, 'and that puts him above the gods.'

'How did he get to be so powerful?'

'By having two mortal and two immortal parents, I guess.'

'Immortal parents?'

'Yes, Gan and the First.'

Mrs. Wheeler's face filled with a baffled look of complete and utter confusion.

'Never mind,' Ahna shook her head, 'it's really not that important.'

'It is if it affects my son or my grandson.'

'And your granddaughter too, although that's the First and Win.'

'Wait,' she frowned, 'if the First is involved both times, does that mean Joey is the First?'

'Yep,' she grinned, 'the Original Mistress of Light.'

'Mistress of Light?'

'You really don't know anything about the Tenth Order at all, do you?'

'Other than the fact it sounds like some kind of cult, no.'

'I would probably reframe from calling it a cult if I were you. It's actually the multiverse's oldest religion.'

'Then how come I've never heard of it before?'

'Long story. Look all you need to know is…' she hesitated. 'You know what, it doesn't matter. If you're really interested, there's probably a book somewhere in this place that'll explain it all to you.'

'Why can't you explain it to me?'

'Because that'll take hours and believe it or not, I'm shattered. I just want to get to bed.'

'But it's still so early.'

'I'm aware of that.'

Mrs. Wheeler stared at her for a moment, before giving a heavy sigh and leaving the room. As soon as she did Ahna turned her attention back towards Crovell. The truth was she had no intention of going to bed just yet, she just hadn't felt much like dealing with her ex-fiancé's mother at that particular moment in time. She didn't know why but, despite all the people currently staying in the Southern Palace, the place felt strangely empty without Mai. The pair might have started out on the wrong foot, but in the year they'd been living together they'd slowly formed a close friendship; something Ahna was reluctant to betray. But the more she thought about it, the more she began to wonder whether or not Mai's disappearance had anything to do with her suspected pregnancy.

At first the idea felt ridicules to her. But the more she thought about it, the more things started to add up. It felt as though she held the key to unlock the mystery of whole situation. But if she was wrong, then telling the other's what she knew would result in her betraying Mai and causing more trouble than was needed. Especially if she went on to explain her whole theory _and_ was wrong; that would just be humiliating.

In the end the one thing which made her mind up was the idea of keeping her promise to Mai. Even if she was right and it turned out what she did know could have helped, at least she wouldn't have betrayed her friend over a hunch.


	31. Chapter 31

**Chapter 31**

'Glad to see you're being more cooperative today Kaiba,' a sneery look appeared across their captor's face as he arrived back for the fifth time that day, 'I would hate to have carried through that little threat of mine.'

'I'm sure,' her voice was tense and bordering dry sarcasm.

'Don't toy with fate now Kaiba,' he took a cigarette out of his pocket and lit it, 'not when you're so close to the end.' He took a drag and let out a slow stream of smoke. 'Hope you girls don't mind if I crash here tonight, only you could go into labour any time now and I wouldn't want to miss it.'

'Do we really have a choice in the matter?'

'Not really.'

'Then crash away.'

Téa was surprised at how calm the female Kaiba was being, but then she'd had gone through about every emotion known to man in the time she'd been chained to the wall and it was likely there wasn't anything but tight and tense calmness left for her now. Téa wished she could felt the same, because the truth was she was terrified. But the funny thing was it wasn't the situation itself bothering her; it was the thought of giving birth.

Their captor took off his leather jacket and threw it to one side. His eyes were watching them, as though they were merely a morsel of food and he was a ravenous wolf. He took another drag on his cigarette and gave a bored sigh.

'Don't you girls talk?'

'Only when we have something to say,' Kaiba flicked her gaze up to meet with his for a moment.

'Oh come on, I'm sure you can think of something. Entertain me.'

'Oh, I'm sorry; I thought we were here to give birth, not for your entertainment.'

'I thought you knew better than to mess with me Kaiba.'

'Well I guess you thought wrong.'

Without warning or further provocation he crossed the room and grabbed hold of her ankle. He then attempted to drag her towards the edge of the blue semicircle. Squealing in fear, she desperately clung onto the chains which bound her to the wall and tried to pull herself back away from him. It wouldn't have been easy for anyone, but considering her current condition Téa was surprised she managed to hang on for as long as she did. In her chest Téa could feel her heart pounding as she felt certain Kaiba's grip was about to give and they were about to witness something truly awful. Much to her surprise, however, after a few minutes of this struggle their captor let go and, laughing maliciously, swaggered back towards the metal tables.

Téa then watched as Kaiba crumpled in on herself in a mixture of exhaustion and fear. For a few long moments she struggled to regain her composure, but it was no good and eventually the sound of her tears broke through the tense silence.

'Now that was entertaining,' he smirked.

'You're sick,' Mai glared at him, 'only a truly evil bastard like you would get pleasure out of someone else's suffering.'

'Tell me something I don't know.'

'Why do you have to pick on her like that?'

'Because I can't do to her what I plan to do to you,' a shark-like smile spread across his face, 'and I want to have a little fun whilst I can.'

'You're sick.'

'No, just true Chaosen.'

There was a long, bitter silence, broken only by the sound of Kaiba's sobbing. Lowering her head, Téa gave a heavy sigh. The whole situation was a nightmare, so why was she still more frightened of giving birth than anything else?

'Are you girls going to entertain me or what?' He clapped his hands in a clear attempt to startle them.

'We're not here for your amusement,' Mai's voice was tight and commanding.

'No, but you should be.'

'You're not going to frighten me into submission, if that's what you're thinking.'

Glancing up, Téa spotted the scalpel he was holding and her heart leapt in fear. She'd finally managed to work out what it was Kaiba hadn't been telling them. Her eyes darted towards Mai, to see if she'd come to the same conclusion. But it was clear from the determined expression she was wearing it hadn't even occurred to her to ask what the guy was doing with a surgical knife. A stifled gasp from Kaiba's direction, alerted Téa to the fact she too had seen the weapon.

'Mai,' Kaiba's voice was little more than a squeaky tremble, 'please be quiet.'

'But isn't that the opposite of what he wants,' her eyes burned with anger. 'He wants us to entertain him. So let's entertain him.'

'Mai you don't understand…'

'I…' her sentence stopped dead in its tracks, as her face suddenly fell in realisation. 'Oh,' tearfully she shook her head, 'I get it now.'

'Don't look so sad Mai,' a sadistic smile filled their captor's face, 'I promise I'll make it as painless as possible for you. Of course Téa won't be so lucky, but then I don't really like her,' he gave a cocky half laugh, as he slowly made his way over to her, 'but I do like you.'

He knelt down beside her but she just flinched away. For half a second Téa could almost believe she saw a look of hurt in his eyes, but it was gone so quickly it was likely she just imagined it.

'Mai, Mai, Mai,' he placed the blade of the knife against her check, 'I always admired your beauty and your strength. You were a stronger woman than I could ever be.'

'Wait, what?' Mai turned her gaze towards him.

His eyes bulged as if he realised he'd just something he shouldn't have. Quickly he scrambled to his feet, but in his haste the knife made a small cut along Mai's cheek, which instantly began to bleed. For a few long moments he just stared at her in disbelief, then, dropping the weapon to the ground, he grabbed his jacket and fled the room, leaving the three girls to stare in confusion after him.

'Did he just imply that he was a woman?' Kaiba gave a tearfully nervous laugh after a few moments of stunned silence.

'I… I'm not sure,' Mai winced in pain.

'Are you okay?'

'Yeah,' she nodded, 'it stings more than anything.'

'Here,' she tore a small section off of the bottom of her nightdress and handed it in Mai's direction, 'we should at least try to stop the bleeding.'

'Thanks,' she shot her a grateful smile as the piece of material was passed to Téa and then to Mai.

'Are you close enough to reach that scalpel?'

'Just about,' Mai pressed the material against her cheek, 'why?'

'Why do you think?'

'You really think you're going to be able to take him on?'

'No, probably not, I just want to make it harder for him to try anything again, that's all.'

'So when do you think he'll be back?' Téa sighed as she glanced towards the stairway.

'As soon as he comes up with a logical explanation for implying he was a woman,' Kaiba laughed.

'Like maybe that thing on his arm,' Mai pressed her lips together as she used her toes to manoeuvre the scalpel closer to her.

'Huh?' The other two stared at her.

'Didn't you see it? It was like a scorpion or something and looked similar to that thing on Kaiba's ankle. I mean, maybe he really is a she.'

'But why swap gender?' Kaiba frowned.

'Why don't you tell me?' Mai cocked an eyebrow at her.

'To escape,' she gave a stifled half laugh, 'and to make sure no one will recognise you.'

'Exactly,' Mai grunted slightly as she stretched to pick the scalpel up, 'got it.'

'Pass it here,' Kaiba held her hand out, 'if this is anything like it was for them Taylor will be born last, so I'm going to be able to defend the two of you longer than you'll be able to defend me.'

'That makes sense,' Mai passed the scalpel to Téa, who handed it over to Kaiba.

'How can the two of you be so calm right now,' Téa shook her head, 'this situation is...'

'This situation is what it is Téa,' Kaiba cut her off, 'and believe me I'm anything but calm right now. But I promise you all six of us will get out of this somehow.'

Instinctively Téa took hold of the hands Mai and Kaiba had closest to her and pulled them in towards herself.

'If you're about to give one of your lame friendship speeches...'

'You wouldn't be able to stop me even if you wanted to,' she cut Kaiba off. 'Besides, I'm not about to give one of my friendship speeches, I just... I just want to make sure we all know we're not alone right now. And, to be honest with you Kaiba, I don't care how much this is denting your pride; I can feel how much you're trembling. We're all afraid, but we're not alone.'

'I know we're not alone,' Kaiba met and held her gaze, 'and that's exactly why all six of us will get out of this alive.'


	32. Chapter 32

**Chapter 32**

'I know Jay best,' Catilin suddenly appeared beside him, 'that's why you wanted me to help you, right? Because I know him best, even better than you do. So you think if anyone can find something it'll be me, right?'

'It wasn't just that,' SK tried to keep his gaze focused on the pile of books he was routing through, 'it's all the stuff Jay's told me about Calicaccus. The way he talks about them, it's like there's nothing they can't do.'

'That's Octan,' she giggled, 'Desmitus are the reason Calicaccus exist so they're always proud of them, even if they didn't come from their line.'

'I guess that makes sense,' SK gave a heavy sigh, 'why do I get the feeling what we're looking for isn't here?'

'Because you know Jay too,' she placed her hands on his shoulders, 'you care about him, a lot. He's the only friend you have up here. I might know him best, but you know him next best after me.'

'What about Ahna?' SK's tongue skated across his lips as he finally turned his gaze towards her.

'Ahna doesn't know him so well,' Catilin shook her head. 'Jay doesn't show all of himself to a lot of people.'

'All of himself?' He frowned. 'What makes you think I've seen all of him?'

'Because you notice,' her brown eyes were filled with a serious look. 'You do notice, right? I've seen you.'

'Notice what exactly,' his tongue moved across his lips several more times as he turned his gaze away.

'You know what. It's why you picked me to help you. And why you know he's not kept what we need here.'

'He took it with him to Earth,' the words were out of SK's mouth almost before he could stop them. 'Because it was never his plan to begin with he couldn't risk what he had falling into anyone else's hands. He couldn't risk them getting into trouble instead of him.'

'Jay is like that,' Catilin grinned, 'so what are we wasting our time around here for?'

'You're right,' he got to his feet, 'we should be looking on Earth. And I... and I think I know where to begin.'

* * *

Hunger pains had just started to rouse them from their sleep, when the intruders entered their lair. The pair of them stank of power; it was enough to turn them from hungry to ravenous. Better yet it was pretty clear to the hunters their pray hadn't spotted them yet. That put them at a distinct advantage and one they were definitely going to use in their favour.

Carefully they pulled themselves to their feet. Keeping to the gloomy shadows, they watched their pray search the room for something. It was a task they were so focused on they still didn't notice they were being hunted. It was almost too perfect. Silently they stalked their way closer and closer to their pray. They were ready to pounce at any moment, but just as they were about to launch their attack one of them noticed they were there and both of them disappeared.

Disappointed, but not discouraged, they left the safety of their nest for the darkness of the night. They didn't know how late it was and they didn't really care. All that mattered to them was the strong, darkly rich scent they'd caught on the light breeze brushing past them. They were hungry and it was feeding time.

* * *

As his eyes slowly fluttered open, Tristan knew instinctively he was dreaming again. It was the same softly lit room it always was, but unlike normal Kaiba hadn't tried to wake him. In confusion he lifted his head in order to look at him. A silent question then moved from his brown eyes to his partner's deep blue. In response Kaiba gave a heavy sigh and lowered his gaze; as he did a jumbled series of images passed through Tristan's mind. It was the same kind of flashing he normally got when his memory returned after a complete mental blank. The only difference was he could already remember everything, so why...?

Before he had a chance to think anymore about it, he found Kaiba's lips pressed against his own. Seconds later they parted and Kaiba buried his face against Tristan's neck. It didn't take him long to realise Kaiba was crying and, too shocked to do anything else, he shifted himself into a better position for comforting him. Instinct told him it was best not to ask questions, although in all honesty he knew he was too scared to hear what the answers might be.

Eventually Kaiba stopped crying, but the silence between them continued. There was no need for words. No need for explanations or discussion about what had just happened. It didn't matter. All that matter was the way their hearts were currently beating in unison and the current calm of their shared reality. An eternity melted away around them, but eventually Kaiba gave a heavy sigh and pulled away. His sad blue eyes lifted to meet with Tristan's and another jumble of images moved through his head.

'It's alright, I'll find you,' Tristan's voice was so low it was barely audible.

Kaiba nodded, which caused the images still flicker through Tristan's mind to become somehow clearer. There was a lamppost, an alleyway, the gloom of a room, all things which meant something, but Tristan just couldn't work out what.

'Is there anything you can tell me to help me find you?'

'I…' Kaiba hesitated. 'I just need you to rescue me. And quickly, if you wait too long…' he trailed off.

'If I wait too long, what?'

'You have to find us quickly, please,' his eyes filled with tears and squeezing them shut, he turned away. 'Please you have to find us.'

'What is it?' Tristan tilted Kaiba's head towards him. 'What's wrong?'

'I... I want to tell you but... I... I can't.'

'Why not? What is it? What's wrong?'

'You'll understand when you find us,' his eyes flickered in a searching manner as they stared into Tristan's. 'Please, you have to find us.'

'Okay,' he nodded, 'but I still don't know where you are. Is there anything... any small clue you can give me... please.'

'I…' Kaiba's image suddenly flickered.

'No, don't leave me again,' Tristan grabbed hold of Kaiba's shoulder's forcing him back into their dream world.

'It's okay,' a slight smile flicked across his face, 'I think I have to go now.'

'No,' he shook his head, 'that's not okay. I don't want you to go. Not until I have some idea where I can find you. Please, stay with me a little longer.'

'I can't; it's almost morning and I can't sleep through what's about to happen.'

'What do you mean?'

'You have to wake up and find us quickly,' Kaiba's image flickered again.

'But I don't know how. I don't know where you are. Please, stay with me, just a little longer, please.'

'No, no as much as I want to stay, I have to go. I can't sleep through this,' there was something strange about the expression Kaiba was wearing as he slowly shook his head.

'You've said that before. What's going on? Seto?'

'I love you,' his image was steadily becoming fainter now.

'Seto, please don't go.'

Without saying anything and barely visible now, Kaiba cupped Tristan's face and pulled him into one final, prolonged kiss before vanishing completely. Heartbroken, Tristan squeezed his eyes shut, but as he did the images returned. Only now they were a lot less jumbled and a lot more focused. He saw a street he recognised, a lamppost which marked the opening to a long alleyway and a doorway leading down to the gloom of a basement.

He opened his eyes again, this time to the darkly lit room he was using in the Southern Palace. For a few long moments everything in him was still and calm, then excitement began to buzz in the pit of his stomach. He didn't know how, but he knew that he'd just seen the place where Kaiba, Mai and Téa were being held. As the light of a new day slowly filtered through his curtains, he pulled himself out of bed and dressed as quickly as possible. Once ready he made his way out of the room; when they heard what he had to tell them no one would care just how early in the morning it was. The only question was; who should he wake first?


	33. Chapter 33

**Chapter 33**

'Let me get this straight, you had him in your head for almost the entire night and only start asking questions five minutes before he wakes up,' the look on Joey's face said more than words ever could. 'You didn't think for one second to find out if Mai and Téa were okay?'

'A shared dream still operates on dream logic Joey,' Tristan met and held his gaze, 'time doesn't pass the same way it does in the waking world. I didn't realise I had him for as long as I did. Nor did I realise he was about to wake up when I started asking questions. So stop focusing on the one thing I did wrong and start focusing on the fact I know where they are now.'

'I agree with Tristan,' Yugi pulled himself up to his full height, 'we're just wasting time right now. Should we wake the others?'

'And you're the one who just said we're wasting time right now,' Tristan shook his head. 'As much help as the others could be, I really get the feeling we don't have that kind of time to waste. That's why I woke the two of you first.'

'Then what are we waiting around for? Let's go already,' as soon as Joey finished speaking he disappeared from sight.

Without hesitation Yugi and Tristan followed him. Their Jump brought the trio to the lamppost Tristan had described from his vision. From there they hurried down the adjacent alleyway and through the door leading down into the gloom of the basement. Despite their best efforts, the door slammed shut behind them and there were several noises of panicked scrambling and fearful sobs from those imprisoned below. It didn't take a genius to realise there was no way they could make a sneaky entrance now, they just had to hope whatever battle they were about to face wouldn't be as bad as they all feared.

The three of them clumped forward on mass, but somewhere between the rickety old wood the stairs were made of and the tight narrow space they were trying to move within, one of them lost their footing and all three came crashing loudly to the bottom of the stairs. If the kidnapper didn't have the advantage before, they sure as hell had one now.

'Tristan,' Piper's voice was little more than a relieved quiver, 'you did it, you found me.'

With his eyes still adjusting to the gloom of the basement, Yugi turned his gaze towards Tristan. His friend's face was filled with a look of complete and utter confusion.

'What the hell?' The words rolled slowly out of Joey.

Glancing across at him, he saw the blond boy's face wore a similar expression to Tristan's. If he was being honest with himself, the thought of seeing Téa tied up in any fashion really turned his stomach; that's why he hadn't looked in her direction yet. The looks on his friends' faces didn't exactly make the thought of turning his head in that direction any more comforting, but he knew he couldn't avoid it forever. Taking a deep breath in, he forced his gaze towards them.

Chained to the wall, within a blue semicircle, was Piper, Mai and Téa, all visible exhausted and all heavily pregnant. Yugi could have choked on his own surprise.

'Will the three of you stop gawking like a bunch of idiots and do something already,' Piper somehow managed to meet all three of their gazes at the same time. 'You need to get them out of here, _now_.'

None of them moved or attempted to reply. How could they? There was just no way any of them could have expected to find this and Yugi felt as though every single one of his senses had been totally overloaded with information.

'Look, I know you're in shock right now, but you have to get them out of here,' Piper gritted her teeth, 'please, before _he_ returns.'

'He...?' The word came out of Yugi almost as an involuntary breath. 'The... the person who... who was holding you here?'

'Yes, him, please, you have to get them out of here now.'

'But... but what about you?'

'I... I can't... I can't leave here, not until…' she cut herself off.

'Why not?'

'Because I'll… I mean, I'm not…'

'Seto?' Tristan gave a slight laugh of disbelief.

'Kaiba…?' Joey stared at her in confusion. 'How…?'

'Look, there's no time to explain now,' her eyes were filled with a desperate look. 'Please, you have to get them out of here.'

Without another word Tristan jumped to his feet. This prompted Yugi and Joey to do the same and within seconds the three of them were attempting to free the girls from their binds.

'I'm sorry Yugi,' Téa's voice was soft in his ear, 'you must hate me.'

'For what?'

'For getting…' she trailed off.

'I don't hate you Téa,' he met her gaze, momentarily distracted from his task of trying to free her, 'I always wanted to be a dad; of course I never imagined it would be this soon, but…'

'Thank you,' a weak smile tugged at her lips right before she winced in pain.

'Are you okay?'

'It's just a contraction,' she gave a tearfully nervous laugh.

'Wait, what?' He felt his eyes go wide in disbelief. 'You don't mean you're…'

'I'm sorry.'

'It's... it's not your fault,' he kept his voice as level as possible, 'it's just a lot for me to take in.'

With a new found sense of urgency he turned his attention back towards the binds around Téa's wrists.

'So who exactly is this guy?' Joey directed his question at Piper.

'He calls himself the Game's Master,' there was something wavering about the confidence in her voice, 'he also says he's Chaosen.'

'Like Crovell?'

'More like Crovell's nemeses. He claims to be the evil side of the Chaosen scale; just in case speeding up a nine months pregnancy into three days wasn't clue enough for you.'

'There's no need to be so snappy Kaiba.'

'Oh I'm sorry Wheeler, I'll remember that the next time you're in labour after being chained to a wall for three days.'

'I wouldn't be stupid enough to get myself pregnant.'

'Oh yeah, because this is really all my fault.'

'I told you there would be consequences for creating Piper, remember rich boy?' Joey gritted his teeth. 'Unless of course you planned for something like this to happen and I thought you promised me you weren't going to rush things.'

'I wasn't. Piper...'

'If you couldn't handle her you should have told us, we would have sorted it and then...'

'I really don't think now's the time for this,' Yugi shot Joey a look, as he managed to release one of Téa's arms and turned his attention to the other. 'What I want to know is what the hell he was doing speeding these pregnancies up in the first place.'

'It's to do with the cousins, Talma, Annu and Lilly,' Piper gave a choked sounding laugh, 'they're being Khined. And their births are going to herald in the Standing awakening.'

'And he needed to speed that up because…?' Joey shot her a look.

'Because he believes Standing Sorcerer are really Chaosen.'

'And…?'

'And because Moral Immortals are vulnerable if they're born early,' she gritted her teeth, 'he wants to kill them. So why don't you just shut up and get your wife and daughter out of here already.'

'You don't need to tell me that,' Joey lowered his head.

For the next few minutes there was silence. Then, just as Yugi finished getting Téa's other arm free, he spotted Joey helping Mai to her feet. Within seconds he had Téa up from the ground, trembling in his arms. Yugi's gaze then turned towards Tristan and Piper.

'Will you two be okay here on your own?'

'Wake whoever you can and send them here to help,' Tristan's voice was firm, 'preferably someone with power to protect us.'

'It'll be the first thing I do,' Yugi nodded.

'You mean after you get Téa to a decent bed, right,' Piper Kaiba glared at him, 'she's got to be your priority here.'

'But…?'

'Look, whether I like it or not, I can't go anywhere. But they can, they have to be your priority, not me.'

'Wow,' Joey gawked, 'are you sure that's Kaiba?'

'Oh it Kaiba,' Mai stumbled out of his arms in her direction.

Almost automatically Téa did the same.

'You two really need to get out of here,' Piper rolled her eyes as the two other women hugged her, 'you're not safe right now.'

'Don't forget your promise to us,' Téa's voice wavered with emotions, 'all six of us will make it out of this alive. Don't forget.'

'I won't. Just go already.'

'We'll be waiting for you and Taylor, got it,' Mai gave a choked laugh as the two of them pulled away.

'Okay, we'll be there as soon as we can. Just please go already and don't look back.'


	34. Chapter 34

**Chapter 34**

Their close encounter with the Veronsen had driven them back to Sil and more specifically the Great Library. Since they clearly weren't going to get their hands on whatever information Jay had, they would have to do the next best thing and start again from scratch. It took them till the early hours of the morning, but they eventually managed to unearth several possible cures. They then spent the next hour or so painstakingly copying each one out word for word, before making their way back to the Southern Palace.

SK found himself stretching in one of the corridors, wondering if the others were up and searching for the day yet or not, when Joey and Yugi accompanied by Mai and Téa appeared out of nowhere. The second SK saw the two young women, his eyes bulged with shock. Beside him Catilin clapped her hands and laughed.

'It's all about the cousins, I should have known.'

'Huh?' SK shot her a truly baffled look.

'We don't have time for explanations right now,' Joey stopped any further discussion in its tracks. 'Cat, I need you to wake Ahna and Covo for me, SK I need you to get to your cousin.'

'Okay,' he licked his lips, 'where is he?'

'Do you know how to back track a Jump?'

'Jay explained it once, but I…'

'Look, there's no time; we need you to go back there, just do the best you can.'

'Okay,' he licked his lips again, 'but I don't…'

'You'll understand everything when you get there. But I'm serious, there's no time to waste right now, you have to get back there.'

'Okay,' he nodded, 'I'm on it.'

* * *

'Who's Taylor?'

The question made Kaiba smile as he leant back against Tristan. Not being chained to the wall definitely made him more comfortable with the situation, but it also made the semi-circle itself feel a lot more confined than it had previously. At the same time Kaiba couldn't completely let his guard down; the fact their captor hadn't returned after making a big song and dance about spending the night with them worried him, a lot.

'Well, are you going to tell me who Taylor is, or not?'

'Our daughter.'

'Uh-huh,' Tristan's voice was filled with uncertain amusement, 'and when exactly did you name her?'

'When she woke me up.'

'I see...'

'Don't you like the name?'

'It's not that.'

'Then what is it?'

'How come you got to decided without me?'

'Because I'm currently the one trapped in the body which is going to give birth to her.'

'That doesn't seem like a good enough reason to me.'

'Well if you want to have a say in it badly enough you could always switch places with me.'

'I think I'll pass,' smiling wryly, he leant his head back against the wall. 'So how long do we have to wait exactly?'

'I'm not sure. My guess is Taylor will be born last, since Talma was.'

'So we could be waiting for hours then.'

'Sorry.'

'This is hardly your fault Seto.'

'That depends on how you look at it, isn't it? I mean I was the one who created _her_. I was the one who was selfish enough just to think she was trying to hurt me when... when she was trying... when... She just wanted a reason to exist,' he twisted himself enough in Tristan's arms so he could see his face. 'She wanted to share. She was looking for a way we could both exist. I was the one who made it a choice between us. I shouldn't have done that. I shouldn't have made it her verse me. And now she's gone and I just feel...'

'It's not your fault.'

'Isn't it? It's my selfish actions which put us into this situation in the first place. And I... I could feel her dying. It felt... it felt like someone was cutting out a part of my soul and there was nothing I could do about it. I just... I just wish I'd done things differently.'

'Even if you had... even if the two of you did get along, do you really think that would have stopped this situation from happening? She would have died here either way, wouldn't she?'

'I guess.'

'So there's no need for you to feel guilty about what happened, okay? Just concentrate on what you have to do next.'

He gave an understanding nod, before leaning in to kiss Tristan. To his dismay Tristan pulled away.

'Why did you do that?'

'You look like her,' he lowered his gaze, 'and I don't want to kiss her.'

'But…'

Before he could get any further with his sentence loud, sarcastic clapping boomed from behind him. Instantly his blood turned cold. He knew... he knew his captor would return eventually, but he'd been hoping... praying eventually wouldn't be so soon.

'Now this Kaiba, this is entertaining,' his captor's voice was sly and taunting. 'I mean there's drama, there's suspense, there's love. It's like some cheesy soap opera. Now why couldn't you have been this entertaining last night? I might have felt the need to stay then.'

'Leave him alone,' Tristan let go of Kaiba and rose to his feet.

'Him alone?' He laughed. 'You must have slept through the class were they taught you the difference between boys and girls, because you're precious little Kaiba is most definitely a girl. She's not half bad looking either, much more attractive like this.'

'Shut up.'

'Oh I'm sorry,' cockily he removed a cigarette from his pocket and lit it, 'I forgot you were gay. So does that mean right now I'm more attractive to you than she is?'

Tristan flicked an energy ball into his hand and, putting all his strength behind it, threw it in his direction. To Kaiba's dismay, just as the energy ball was about to connect, his captor raised his left hand and, with nothing more than the twiddling of his fingers, managed to completely dissipate the attack.

'There are just so many uses for Reama Tech, aren't there?' He smirked as he revealed a cobweb like device on his palm. 'Like keeping your boyfriend as a woman and controlling _her_ powers.'

'Controlling...?' Before he could stop himself, Kaiba found himself flicking an energy ball into his own hand.

'That's right controlling,' he chuckled, 'what, did you think they were just blocked or something?'

'You... you can't make me throw it at him,' his words caused Tristan to glance in his direction.

'Who said I wanted to?' Without warning Tristan's body suddenly went flying sideways, crashing heavily into the wall. 'I just wanted him distracted.'

'Tristan!' Kaiba found himself staring at Tristan unconscious form in horror.

'Now, now Kaiba, you're the last person I'd have ever thought would rely on a knight in not so shining armour to save her.'

'Muton fo,' the words burst out of him in a toxic mixture of fear and anger.

'Oh Kaiba, really, didn't you learn anything the last two times you tried to go up against me?' He took a slow drag of his cigarette.

'Go to hell.' Kaiba held his ground the best he could. 'You mock my gender issues, when we both know you have some of your own. It wasn't our lack of entertaining you which sent you out of here last night; it was you revealing to us you used to be a woman. I bet you were staying away long enough in the hopes our labour would somehow make us forget, but we haven't. You're not a real man; you're just a pathetic woman playing dress up.'

'I don't think so,' he flicked his cigarette across the room and stormed towards Kaiba.

Filled with fear, Kaiba tried to scramble away. But between the awkwardness of his condition and the limited amount of space he had to work with, he couldn't exactly move very far. With his captor now right on top of him, he felt more trapped than he ever had in his life. It didn't help that his brain kept telling him over and over again no one should make him feel this afraid; because it didn't matter whether or not anyone should, someone had.

'You're not as clever as you think you are Kaiba,' his captor grabbed hold of him, 'see a smart person would have known better than to try and piss me off. So I think it's time for you to learn a very valuable lesson.'

Struggling like mad, Kaiba tried to prevent his captor from pulling him out of the semicircle. But it was no good and the second his ankle crossed the boundary line, his whole body filled with excruciating pain as his female form ripped back into his own. It was enough to completely paralyse him, allowing his captor to drag him across to one of the metal tables and strapped him tightly to it.

'I'm not going to lie to you Kaiba,' he smirked as he moved his tray full of surgical toys closer, 'this is going to be very painful. In fact, compared to what you're feeling right now, you're going to wish I was killing you. And you better hope that lover boy doesn't take too long to wake up; because with two other babies to hunt down and kill, I'm not going to have time to stitch you back up.'


	35. Chapter 35

**Chapter 35**

Téa had been so calm when they'd first found her Yugi had no idea her labour was already so far along. Almost as soon as they had her on the bed in the Southern Palace she was giving birth. Or at least that's how it felt. The whole situation had moved around him like a still chaos. Even now he wasn't totally sure he'd fully managed to process it all and he just took relief in the fact he wasn't the only one feeling completely shell shocked.

Since their child had been born Téa had been very quiet. Almost too quiet. Several times Yugi had focused his empathic abilities in on her only to be hit with an emotional wall he wasn't totally sure he understood. In the end he just told himself she was feeling as numb about the whole situation as he was and together they waited in silence for someone to start a conversation.

'It's a boy,' it almost surprised him that Téa was the one to break first.

'I know. I'm guessing that means the cousins were Khindeled rather than Khined,' he kissed the side of her head. 'But that doesn't matter, right?'

'I'm a terrible mother,' instantly she burst into tears.

'What?'

'I'm a terrible mother. Ever since I found out I was pregnant, all I wanted was for this child to be gone. I didn't care how; I just didn't want it.'

'And now?'

'Now all I can think about is how horrible I was to want him gone,' she sobbed. 'I mean, look at him, he's endured one of the shortest pregnancies ever and yet he's perfect. I don't deserve him.'

'Yes you do.'

'No I don't. He deserves a mother who loved him from the beginning, not one who ever wished he was dead.'

'Shh,' Yugi pulled her closer to him, 'you love him now and that's all that matters.'

'I need to name him,' sniffing, she rested her head against him.

'Huh?'

'I need to name him, that's what Kaiba did when she… he realised how much he wanted Taylor,' her voice was gentle but quiet. 'So I need to name him.'

'Okay,' Yugi nodded, 'you can name him.'

'Lus.'

'Huh?'

'I want to call him Lus.'

'But that's Etean for little.'

'I know. Its one of the few Etean words I do know.'

'Okay… but don't you think it's slightly cruel to name a child Little?'

'But I'm not calling him Little, I'm calling him Lus. Lus Moto.'

'Okay,' Yugi shook his head, 'now you're just being cruel.'

* * *

With his heart pounding hard in his chest, he fought against the paralysing pain which still consumed his body and the straps which bound him to the table. But it was no good, he didn't have the strength to free himself.

'It's pointless Kaiba; all you're doing is delaying the inevitable,' his captor smirked down at him. 'I mean, someone's going to have to cut this child out of you eventually.'

'Doesn't mean it has to be you.'

'No, but right now I don't see anyone else offering. So if I were you I'd stop your struggling or else you're going to end up with cuts in all the wrong places.'

'I won't let you do this. I won't let you kill her,' he continued to struggle. 'Tristan,' he turned his attention towards his unconscious lover, 'I need you to wake up now. Tristan!'

'He can't hear you. All you're doing is wasting energy. Energy you're going to need to survive, unless of course you like the idea of bleeding to death.'

'What does it matter how much energy I have, if I'm bleeding to death?'

'I'm sure you'll think differently soon enough,' he placed his left hand over Kaiba's throat, pinning him in place. 'Now hold still.'

'No,' he choked as he felt the cold tip of the blade pierce his skin.

The additional pain of it was enough to fully paralyse him again. Releasing the grip on his throat, his captor moved in order to get a better view of what he was doing and Kaiba could do nothing but lie there, whilst the blade tore smoothly through his skin. The knife could only have been about halfway along his stomach, when its movement stopped. There was then the sound of something metallic falling to the floor, followed by that of a scuffle.

His vision blurry with pain and his head already woozy from the blood he was losing, he turned towards the noise. If his mind had been better able to work out what was going on, his heart would have leapt in joy at the sight of Tristan physically attacking his captor. But as it was, he could do little more than lie there and watch.

'What the…?' He heard someone's voice cry from behind him.

'Help Seto,' Tristan voice sounded strained as he continued his struggle against the other guy.

'Right.'

Suddenly what looked like his cousin's face appeared in his vision.

'SK...' his voice was weak and uncertain.

'It's okay, I'm going to get you out of here,' his tongue skated across his lips as he began fiddling with the straps.

'No,' he shook his head, 'help Taylor.'

'Huh?'

'Help Taylor,' his eyes flicked down towards his stomach. 'Help her.'

'Wait, you're not asking me to…'

'Help her!'

'But…!'

'SK please,' he squeezed his eyes shut. 'Please.'

'Okay,' his cousin's voice shook towards the edges.

Opening his eyes again, he watched in a blackening haze as SK made his way towards the discarded knife and apprehensively stood over him with it.

'Are you sure you want me to do this?'

'Please.'

Taking a deep breath and visible shaking, his cousin carried out his request. Unable to watch, Kaiba's eyes flicked towards the ceiling, as the cold, painful, tearing sensation returned. His head span sickly and his ears rang with the disorientating sounds of the ongoing struggle. But as he lay there, he slowly realised the events going on around him and even the sensation of pain he knew he was feeling was becoming less and less real. His vision dimmed, noises became more muffled, thoughts less certain.

Somehow he was vaguely aware of the fact he was about to pass out. But that didn't seem to matter. In the moments leading up to the all consuming darkness nothing felt real enough to matter. He briefly wondered if this was what dying was like; if this was what Piper had experienced in her last few moments. Then, just as everything fell away to blackness, a breaking cry reached his ears, followed by the screams of a new born infant. The last real sensation he felt was the smile of relief pulling its way across his face, as the world around him faded away to nothing.


	36. Chapter 36

**Chapter 36**

Joey was worried about Mai; it was only three months ago she'd given birth to their daughter, for her body to have been under that kind of stress again so soon, especially after spending three days chained up in some dank basement, was just too much for her. Exhausted she lay in a state of semi-consciousness as Joey watched protectively over her, cradling their new born son whilst Jo lay sleeping on the bed beside her mother.

'Joey...' the weary murmur rolled out of Mai.

'I'm here Mai,' he kept his voice as soft as possible.

'Joey, I miss you...'

'I know.'

'If you don't find us soon he's going to kill our baby. I know you're not ready to have another one; I'm not either, but I still don't wanna see her die.'

'Him, Mai.'

'Huh...?'

'I've rescued you already. And you've already given birth to our child; a little boy.'

'What…?' In a strange kind of slow motion her eyes blinked open. 'Am I dreaming?'

'No,' he smiled lovingly down at her, 'you're just very tired.'

'From giving birth,' a strange level of realisation toned through her voice, 'I remember,' her hand moved to touch the small cut on her right cheek.

'I would have healed it for you already, but you were lying with your head on that side and I didn't want to disturb you if I could help it,' Joey adjusted the position of his son in his arms to free his right hand. 'Here, I'll do it for you now.'

'No,' she shook her head, 'I want the reminder.'

'You _want_ the reminder?'

'It was awful Joey but I survived. I want to remember that I survived.'

'Okay, I guess I can understand that.'

'How are Kaiba and Téa doing?'

'Téa's doing fine, I think. But…'

'They still not back?' Mai's face filled with a weary expression of concern. 'You should check up on them, make sure they're alright.'

'It's not been that long yet,' he shook his head, 'and you still need me. Besides they're probably fine; my bet is that rich boy's just too embarrassed to face everyone.'

'No, you don't understand…' she tried to sit up, only to fall back in exhaustion.

'I understand that you need rest.'

'Joey, please, Kaiba went through so much I don't think it's possible for embarrassment to keep him away. Please, go help them.'

'I'm not going anywhere whilst you still need me Mai. I'm sure they'll be back soon enough, I mean, it really hasn't been that long.'

'He burnt Piper's deck card by card,' her expression crumpled with the weight of the words, 'please Joey, I need to know they're okay.'

'Card by card?' Joey felt sick.

'Please.'

'Alright, I'll give them a call, in a bit, but...' he gave a nervous little laugh, 'well I just wanted to know what we were calling him.'

'Huh?'

'Our baby Mai, does he have a name yet?'

'He?' Mai shook her head in confusion as she tried to sit up again and failed. 'But I thought…'

'Kaiba got it wrong; they were Khindeled.'

'Khindeled?' She gave an exhausted laugh of contentment. 'You name him.'

'Huh?'

'You name him, Joey; I said you could, remember?'

'Then I'll name him what he is,' he smiled softly as he stared down at his new son, 'Arados.'

For a few moments the look of confusion returned to Mai's face. Then she gave a strained laugh of realisation and a soft smile pulled at her lips.

'Miracle; you're naming him Miracle.'

'Aye.'

'I like it, but...'

'But what?'

'I'd like it better if I knew Kaiba was okay.'

* * *

Punching felt good. Punching felt good and the fact he was doing it to protect his lover and child made it feel even better. The fact his opponent wasn't able to put up much of a fight just added to the satisfactory feeling punching gave him. But in his frenzied state it took him a while to realise the reason the other guy was no longer fighting back was because he was unconscious. It was as that realisation broke SK's strained voice, crying at him to stop fighting and heal Kaiba, finally reached him.

With haphazard speed he secured his beaten opponent to the wall using the same chains he'd used to imprison Mai. He then made his way towards the table and was almost shocked to see how much blood there was, despite SK's best efforts to reduce the bleeding by apply pressure with his lab coat. A task not made any easier for him to do whilst also trying to cradle and sooth a screeching infant.

Filled with panic, Tristan automatically checked Kaiba's pulse. It was still there, but it was incredibly faint. Shifting SK out of the way, he removed the lab coat from the wound and set about willing all his powers into healing it. Every inch of love he felt for Kaiba riveted through him, producing an unbelievable glow beneath his hands. For some reason the healing process was painfully slow. He didn't know if it was because the Pure's powers were being suppressed, because of how weak Kaiba currently was or if there was another reason involved somehow, he just knew he didn't like it.

'You can't die,' he gritted his teeth as the gaping wound pulled together into a twisted scar, 'do you hear me, you can't die. I won't let you.'

With a final burst of power, he managed to close the gap. Despite his best efforts Kaiba's skin still bore the disfiguring remnants of the brutal incision, but he was too exhausted to do anything more about it; for now it was more than enough the wound was closed. Almost without taking a breath, he went to check Kaiba's pulse again. Still there, still weak, but still there. Relief washed over him as he passionately kissed his unconscious lovers lips, before turning his attention towards the straps binding him to the table.

His hands were shaking so much it was nearly impossible for him to undo the clasps. In the end he gave up and grabbed one of the unused medical looking knives from the shallow tray on the nearby table. Cutting through the thick binds wasn't exactly easy, but at least he made visible process and that made him feel better. As the knife broke through the last strap and his slightly scattered mind remembered something about a power controlling device on the back of Kaiba's neck, he decided removing this safely was his next course of action. After all, Kaiba would need all the strength he could get if he was going to recover.

'Can't that wait?' SK's voice was more than a little strained.

'No,' he shook his head, 'Seto's barely holding on as it is; he needs the Pure's power more than anything right now.'

'But… I... I think your kid's crying because he's cold. I used my lab coat to... to try and... to... I... I have nothing to wrap him in.'

'Here, take this,' callously he shrugged his off his jacket and handed it to SK. 'And maybe you could do me a favour and take Taylor home and organise something… anything for him. I've got to concentrate on saving Seto right now, okay?'

'I... err... I...'

'SK just go.'

Tristan didn't even turn to check if he'd left; the sudden deafening silence was enough to let him know that was the case. With all his attention focused on deactivating the device, it didn't take him long to work out it operated on a similar system to the Scarna. Knowing this made everything else easy; as soon as it detached, Tristan took no time in dropping it to the floor and crushing it underfoot. Somewhere in the back of his head he knew there was a word which described the feeling he had of making sure the damn thing was completely and utterly useless, but he couldn't bring it to mind.

As he scooped his unconscious lover up into his arms and Jumped his way to the Kaiba mansion he couldn't help but think there was something else he should have done before he left. Something important he was forgetting. But he didn't allow himself to dwell on it for long. The only thing that mattered right then was the fact Kaiba was safe. It was only as he lay Kaiba gently down onto their bed he realised SK had said _he_. As that realisation dawned on him, a smile pulled its way across his face.

'The cousins were Khindeled,' he breathed, 'Seto, we have a son.'


	37. Chapter 37

**Chapter 37**

'You're exhausted Cat, why don't you get some rest and leave sorting through these to me and Covo?' Ahna shot her a weak smile.

'But I wanna keep helping,' she shook her head.

'I know you do Cat, but I agree with Ahna,' Covo placed a hand on her shoulder, 'you need sleep.'

'But I wanna help and I really don't think I could sleep right now anyway.'

Ahna and Covo exchanged a look, but said nothing. There were a few minutes of prolonged silence.

'Do you think they'll still have to punish Jay?' Ahna's voice was quiet. 'I mean, they know why he did all this now so...'

'No they don't,' Catilin cut her off, 'they don't know, not really.'

'But... he was trying to help.'

'He did it for a good reason. He was trying to save the cousins, right? That's a good reason, so how could they punish him for it.'

'Just because the reason is good, doesn't mean the method is,' Catilin sighed. 'Octan had me punish Jay's father for a good reason, but his method was bad. He still got punished, remember?'

'Yeah, I know,' she lowered her gaze. 'Well at least he has a brief reprieve.'

'Huh?'

'I don't think they'll punish him until Mokuba and Serenity are back to normal; just in case none of this works and their forced to ask him for the cure.'

'She's got a point,' Covo nodded.

'But that could make it all worse, I don't want to wait forever to find out,' Catilin's lower lip wobbled. 'I don't want to lose him. I don't.'

'I know you don't,' Ahna placed a hand on her shoulder. 'But at least this reprieve gives us a chance to find a way of letting him off completely.'

'But... what if he doesn't want to be?'

'How can he not?'

'He didn't have to use hiet braysta's sister, but he did. He used her sister because he knew he wouldn't be forgiven, no matter what the reason. He wants to be punished. Maybe not punished and go away forever, but he wants to be punished somehow.'

'But why?'

'I don't know. I want to know, but he's talking in nursery rhymes so I can't figure it all out. And I just...' her eyes began to brim with tears, 'I just wish I knew.'

'You really should go to bed Cat. You look so tired right now.'

'But I don't wanna.'

They returned to their work in silence for a few moments, but it was clear none of them were really concentrating on it anymore. There was something hanging in the air; something all of them were thinking about, but none of them had the nerve to ask. Suddenly Crovell jumped from his crib to his mother's lap and placed one of his alphabet blocks down on the table in front of him.

'Three,' he squeaked happily.

'Hey baby Crovell, what you got there?' Catilin grinned as she leant towards him. 'Uh... hey Ahna, can babies spell?'

'Not normally. Why?'

'It's a K. He has a K with him. K for Kaiba.'

'Why is it that infant insists on constantly being the smartest one in the room,' Covo rolled his eyes.

'Because he usually is,' Ahna sighed before biting her lip. 'I wonder if Kaiba's okay; I mean, none of us have heard from them yet.'

'That's what I keep wondering,' Covo pressed his lips together. 'I mean, we know Mai and Téa are okay... well as okay as you can be after everything they've been through, but...' he cut himself off. 'Who'd have even thought all three of them were pregnant.'

'I... err... I had my suspicions,' Ahna averted her gaze. 'But... err... but only because Mai confided in me that she thought she might have been.'

'And you didn't think to share that information because…?'

'Because what sounds dumber; I think Mai was kidnapped because she thinks she might be pregnant, or I think Mai, Téa and Kaiba were all kidnapped because…'

'Okay, okay,' he rolled his eyes again, 'point taken. And, to be honest, I don't think any of us would have believed you anyway.'

* * *

The dark scent they'd been tracking since their hunt began was closer now and hungrily they stalked their way towards it. It didn't matter how much they'd fed that night, it seemed the only thing which would satisfy them was the source of that power. The trail led them into the gloom of a cavernous basement. Their prey, immobilised and gift wrapped in chains, waited silently for them at one end. Moving quickly towards it, she knelt down and began to feed.

Patiently he waited for his mate to finish feeding so that he might get a turn. That's how they worked. She'd start and he'd finish. Suddenly she yelped loudly and leapt back. Concerned his eyes went to their prey, who glared at them with a look of cold, dark anger. In its hand was a dangerous looking creature with a long, sharp tail, eight spindling legs and two swiping claws. In his former life he knew the name for creatures such as this, but not anymore. Now all it was to him was a fearful, metallic smelling beast, which had hurt his mate.

A deep growl rose in his throat, but his prey simply laughed and allowed the strange creature to scurry towards them. Quickly he exchanged a fearful glance with his mate, who indicated they should leave. Without hesitation both darted towards the outside world. But even as they made their way back towards their nest, they knew their hunger would never be satisfied until they'd finished feeding on the dark power they'd sensed. The only problem was that metallic beast; until they could rid their prey of its eight-legged protector, they would have to wait.

* * *

Cursing under her breath, she quickly fished the key out of her pocket and undid the chains binding her to the wall. The Veronsen might have only just begun its feeding, but she'd taken enough out of her for the golden scorpion on her right bicep to detach itself. Fortunately this turned out to be a good thing; in its search for a new living power source the scorpion had stung the female and eventually frightened them both off. Unfortunately it would take her a few days to recover enough power to reattach it and that meant putting her plan on hold. Well not hold exactly. All three brats had been born, which meant the awakening had taken place. But she would have to wait to create her army. And she would certainly have to wait until she could attempt to kill any of the newly born infants.

Staggering out of the basement, she blinked blindly at the brightness of the day. The Veronsen had taken more out of her than she initially thought, but that didn't matter; a few days of rest and she'd be well enough to continue what she'd started. Arriving back at the flat she'd been living in since her new life began; she took a quick glance in the mirror. Tristan had done quite a number on her face, although the bruising wasn't as painful as it looked. Briefly she wondered if she should get him arrested for beating a woman, but was too tired to give it any real consideration.

'You really shouldn't have left them alone last night,' the sound of his voice made her jump.

'I thought I told you I didn't want anything more to do with you,' she glared at him. 'I don't need a partner.'

'Don't you think it's that stubborn attitude which allowed you to lose the brats in the first place?' He folded his arms. 'We could have been watching them in shift.'

'Why would I want to share any of the glory with you?'

'Your stubborn pride was always such a problem,' he shook his head.

'Stop talking like you know me. You don't even know the first thing about me.'

'I know the real reason you didn't return last night when you should have was because your mind was in conflict,' he grabbed hold of her arm. 'It's a conflict I know only too well. A conflict which can only occur between a parasite and its host. I know who you are because I know the parasite you are. And someday soon you will remember who I am and the importance I have to you.'

'I am not a parasite. I have no idea what you're talking about and I don't give a damn who you think you are to me. I want you out now.'

'Suit yourself,' he shrugged as he slowly began to fade from view, 'but one day you will change your mind and when that day comes I will be right there waiting for you.'

For a few long seconds after he left she found herself glaring in disgust at the space he'd formally occupied. She then repeatedly checked to make sure the doors and windows were securely fastened, before climbing wearily into bed. Suddenly a few days off felt like a very good idea. And whilst she rested, they could worry about what she might do next.


	38. Chapter 38

**Chapter 38**

It had been nearly half an hour since his first attempt to get hold of Tristan via the mobile Tristan had left him with. When no one had picked up he figured they were probably still busy so had decided to wait to try again. Ten minutes later still no reply on any of the numbers he had access to. Ten minutes after that the same story. And now with the full half hour gone he was repeatedly calling the numbers to try and abate the bad feeling slowly moving through his stomach.

'Come on, come on, someone pick up,' he tried the house number for what felt like the fifteenth time.

He mentally counted the number of rings. Two more and the answer machine would kick in. He got himself ready to hang up again when someone picked up and a sharp breath sounded down the line. Somewhere in the background he could hear an infant crying, but before he could really assess what he was hearing, a near hysterical but familiar voice spoke.

'Please stop calling. Please stop calling. I can't... I can't take the noise anymore. Please...'

'SK?'

'Joey...? I... I need help.'

'What... what's going on?' The bad feeling in Joey's stomach rolled into dread.

'I can't... I can't get Taylor to stop crying,' SK's voice was little more than a broken sob. 'I can't get him to stop crying. And... and I don't know how Seto is and... there was so much blood...'

'Blood?' Joey tried to keep the fear out of his voice. 'Why...?'

'I got lost. I got lost. I couldn't back track the Jump properly and I got lost. Then when I got there... when I got there... there was so much blood... and... and Tristan was hitting him and Seto... Seto begged me to... and... and there was already so much blood I... I think I might have killed him. But I don't... I don't know... I know they're here. I... I sensed Tristan's Jump but I... I was too afraid to find out and I... I just can't think right now. Please, you have to help me.'

Everything in Joey reverberated with shock. This isn't what he wanted to hear. With tension running through his body, he half sat, half fell back onto the bed. For a few long moments he was silent, then Mai placed a hand on his shoulder forcing his attention towards her. He could see from the wide-eyed look she was wearing she'd guessed things were pretty bad and she needed him to do something about it.

'Joey...?'

'It's okay SK, it'll all be okay. I'll get Yugi and we'll come right away. You just hold tight, okay?'

'Okay... okay, but I...'

'What is it?''

'I... the... the prisoner, we... we captured the guy, but I... no one's been to check on him since and I... I'm sorry; I just can't think straight right now. I don't know what to do. Please. Please. Please...'

'It's okay SK, I'll get Covo to go check on him,' he let out a sharp, exasperated sigh. 'We'll be there soon; you just try and hold things together till I get there, okay?'

'I don't know if I can. Taylor won't stop crying. He just won't stop crying. I...'

'Calm down SK, it'll all be okay, just calm down, we'll be there soon.'

'Please,' with that he hung up.

For a few moments Joey started at the phone trying to work out if SK had done that deliberately or not. In the end he figured the guy was in such a mental state of shock he wasn't completely in control of what he was doing.

'You should go, now,' Mai squeezed his shoulder, 'they need you.'

'Right...' his voice sounded as dry as his mouth felt.

'Joey...'

'I'm going, it's just... I shouldn't have been so complacent,' he squeezed his eyes shut. 'I... I should have known something would go wrong. I... I should have been there.'

* * *

Less than half an hour ago Joey had come to them and given them three simple orders. Catilin was to sleep. Ahna was to look after Mai. And Covo was to check on the prisoner. Covo couldn't say he was exactly comfortable with his assigned task. It wasn't that he was a coward, far from it; it was more the idea of facing someone strong enough to subdue the Pure. On top of that he was finding the vague directions he'd been given weren't enough to help him control his own Jumps. It had taken him several attempts before he arrived somewhere which looked the way Joey had described it.

Taking the chance this was finally the right place, he made his way down the adjoining alleyway, looking out for the exact door Joey had described. It didn't take him long to locate it. Sucking a deep breath in, he pushed the door open and descended into the basement below. Everything was just as Joey said it would be; the metallic tables, the blue semicircle, the chains. There was just one problem.

No prisoner.

A flutter of fear moved through him as he cautiously began to examine the rest of the room. A part of him was terrified of the notion this guy might be loose and waiting in the shadows for him somewhere, but a greater part of him was equally as terrified their prisoner had escaped. When his search turned up nothing he found himself letting out a long and flabbergasted sigh.

'Well this is the last thing we need right now.'

'I'm sorry, what was that?' An unfamiliar female voice sounded from behind him.

He turned round to see a young woman dressed in a roman style black tunic standing in the middle of the basement. There was something about her face which made it hard for Covo to decide if she was actually really pretty or just on the more attractive side of plain.

'Err...' he felt caught out for a moment, 'aren't you a member of Dayena's Council?'

'Yeah,' she smiled, 'but don't worry; I'm not here on that kind of business.'

'Then why are you here?'

'Curiosity. I've recently met someone... _strange_ and in meeting them I also discovered some... _strange_ things were happening. I'm not usually so curious, but...'

'There's something about this situation which just intrigues you?'

'There's something about this situation which bothers me,' she folded her arms. 'Whatever it is that's going on required someone to mess with some of our records. Records I personally oversaw. It bothers me; a lot. And I won't be satisfied until I have a full explanation.'

'You're talking about the changes to Jay's records, aren't you?'

'Well at least my instincts were right about you,' she let out a slight sigh, 'you are one of SK's friends.'

'Yeah, I am. I also think we might have an explanation for why Jay's records were messed with, but I'm not totally sure I can tell you what they are right now.'

'I figured as much, but...' she hesitated, 'well... it might have been the changes in my records which made me want to pursue this situation, but it wasn't those changes which made me curious. Nayta was.'

'You've met Nayta?' Covo wasn't quite sure how he felt about that. 'How is she?'

'I thought you were a friend of SK's,' she stared at him.

'I am.'

'Then why don't you know?'

'Know what?'

'There's no record of her death. It was the final straw which caused SK to confront Dee about the whole situation. From the way he made such a big deal out of it I was sure he would have told you.'

'Wait, did you just say there's no record of her death?' Covo shook his head in confusion. 'How can there be no record of her death?'

'Because she's not dead, obviously,' the woman rolled her eyes. 'Although clearly if she hasn't let her friends know that yet something strange must be going on. That's why... that's why I used what influence I have to do a little... investigating of my own.'

'I see and what have you found out so far?'

'I'm sorry, I'm not totally sure I can tell you what I know right now,' she smirked slightly.

'Okay, I get it, I'll tell you what I know if you tell me what you know,' Covo rolled his eyes, 'deal?'

'Deal,' she grinned, 'but you go first.'


	39. Chapter 39

**Chapter 39**

'You notice it too, right,' Yugi glanced towards Joey as they made their way towards the room Tristan and Kaiba were in, 'the way Taylor was effecting SK emotionally.'

'Yeah, I noticed,' Joey gave a pretty heavy sigh, 'although considering the way Crovell uses Duke like his own personal slave, I'm not totally sure I'm happy about our Helper being a Daiosen.'

'Mm, I'm not sure I am either, but...'

'But what?'

'Well the Face of Friendship told me the way Taylor was crying like that reminded her of Fray when he was a baby.'

'Yeah, the First said something similar,' Joey pulled a face, 'I guess that means we have another telepath in the family,' he sighed again. 'I would make some joke about mamma's boys, but under the circumstances I really don't think it's appropriate.'

By this time they'd reached the room they were aiming for. For a few seconds they both shifted edgily from foot to foot; neither of them really wanted to go in there and find out if the worst really had happened. Then Joey took a deep breath in and opened the door. He went in first and after another moment of hesitation Yugi followed. The scene which met them inside was unnervingly still and quiet. Tristan was just lying on the bed silently watching Kaiba, whose body was so still Yugi wasn't totally sure he was breathing.

'Why won't he wake up?' Tristan's voice was soft and quiet as his gaze remained fixed on Kaiba.

The child-like tones in his friend's voice instantly made Yugi's heart sink. At least half of his memory had to be missing for him to sound like that and since emotional stress was the worse cause of memory loss for him did that mean... Yugi couldn't even finish the thought, it was just too awful. Instead he glanced towards Joey for reassurance and in return his friend indicated towards the Ohpayo device on Tristan's wrist. The strip of metal which had previously been a bright silver, was now a dull, listless grey. There was something strangely pitiful about the way it looked and it just made the whole situation even more unbearable than it already was.

'Why won't he wake up?' Tristan glanced towards them. 'I just want him to wake up.'

'I know,' Joey moved round the bed to the side Kaiba was lying on.

For a few long, agonising moments Yugi found himself holding his breath as he watched Joey check for a pulse. A million or more worse case scenarios whirled round his head. What if Kaiba was dead? How would Tristan cope without him? How would Mokuba?

'Oh thank god,' the words hiccupped out of Joey halfway between a sob and a laugh.

'He... he's alive?' Yugi's mouth felt strangely dry.

'Yeah, he is.' Joey turned his attention towards Tristan. 'He's not waking up because he's very sick right now; you understand that, don't you?'

'Will he get better soon?' Tristan's eyes were wide and pleading.

'I don't know.'

'Can I look after him until he's better?'

'Of course,' Joey's voice broke slightly, 'I mean, he'd like that, right?'

Tristan nodded, before affectionately kissing Kaiba's cheek. Joey gave a slightly elongated sigh, before carefully hovering his right hand over Kaiba's body. Yugi knew instinctively he was using the First's powers to assess the situation. When he was done he made his way back towards where Yugi was standing and stood with his back to the bed.

'I'm not going to lie,' his voice was little more than a whisper, 'it's bad. Really bad. I don't know if it was the way his body was held in Piper's form or... what happened when Taylor was born, but... his body's been damaged on a level beyond the First's healing capabilities. Hell I don't even think a fully formed Win could fix what damage is left; all I know is Tristan was lucky he was able to repair as much as he could.'

'What... what exactly are you saying?' Yugi kept his voice low.

'I'm saying...' he hesitated for a moment, 'I'm saying if he's lucky time may heal some of the damage that's left, but he's never going to fully recover from this.'

There were a few long minutes of silence as Yugi allowed himself to absorb the information. It was almost impossible to believe... No, it wasn't that it was impossible to believe, it was that Yugi didn't want to believe it. Just the thought of it left a sickly heavy feeling inside of him, like he'd just found out his sibling had a life threatening illness or something.

'We can't leave them here, not like this,' Joey placed a hand on Yugi's shoulder forcing him to meet his gaze.

'You're right, neither of them are in a fit state to be left on their own right now, especially not when we have Taylor's welfare to consider as well.'

'We'll move them to the Southern Palace, at least there they'll be plenty of people to help pitch in.'

Yugi was about to reply when the sound of a crying infant slowly moving towards the room reached his ears. Somehow he'd always known SK would come and join them eventually. After all if Taylor really was like Fray when he was an infant the only thing which would stop his tears was the presence of... the Pure. Yugi had almost thought _his mother_, but stopped himself just in time. Even if nobody could hear what he was thinking, he refused to degrade Kaiba like that.

'Taylor,' Tristan slowly moved himself into a sitting position, 'why is he crying? I thought I left him with someone safe.'

'Wait, you remember Taylor?' Joey studied him carefully.

'He's my son. He's a part of Seto and me,' he met Joey's gaze. 'What happened to the safe person I left him with? Why is he crying?'

'Do you... do you remember who it was you left him with?'

'Someone safe. What did you do to the safe person? Did you make them go away? Is that why Taylor's crying?' Tristan was starting to become agitated now. 'Why did you take him away from the safe person? What do you want with my son?'

Before either of them could reply, the door to the room opened and SK entered with Taylor. Almost as soon as they entered the room Taylor's cries quietened down into gentle whimpers. Yugi watched as Tristan studied SK for a few long moments. It was pretty clear he wasn't sure if he knew the guy or not. He then held his arms out, clearly wanting SK to hand the baby over to him, but SK just backed away; although Yugi couldn't be sure if it was because his mind was still frazzled from everything he'd been through or if he was working on some instinctive Daiosen behaviour.

'You're not the safe person I left my son with, are you,' despite its child-like quality Tristan's voice was solid and determined. 'The safe person would have given my son back to me by now. I want my son back now. Give me my son back now.'

'I…' SK licked his lips, before shaking his head. 'I...' he turned his gaze towards Yugi and Joey revealing just how scattered his thinking still was. 'I...'

'Tristan, SK was the safe person you left Taylor with; that's why he can't give him back to you right now.'

'Why not?' Tristan stared at him. 'I don't understand.'

'I know you don't Tristan, but the truth is right now it's not safe for you or Kaiba or Taylor, that's why I need all three of you to come with me.

'But I don't want to go with you. I don't know you,' Tristan shook his head. 'I just want my son, please.'

'I can't give him to you right now Tristan; not till I know everything is safe for all three of you. That's why I can't leave you here on your own.'

'But I'm not on my own.'

'You know what I mean Tristan.'

'No,' he shook his head, 'I don't know what you mean and I don't want to leave here. This is my home. Mine and Seto's and Taylor's. I don't want to leave here. You can't make me leave here.'

'I'm not…' Joey took a deep breath, 'I'm not giving you a choice Tristan. You're coming with me whether you like it or not and there's nothing you can do about it.'

'No,' Tristan shook his head, 'I don't want to. I don't want to go with you. Why are you doing this?'

'Because I care about you and I don't want to leave you here on your own.'

'But I... I'm not on my own, please,' his eyes flicked towards Yugi.

Yugi knew Joey wasn't trying to be as harsh as he sounded, but that didn't make Yugi feel any less like a traitor when he turned his head away.

'Don't make me leave, I don't want to leave.'

'I'm sorry Tristan, it's for the best,' Joey's voice was almost too calm.

'No, I don't want to go with you. I don't know you. I want to stay here.'

'I'm sorry.'

'No you're not.'

'Tristan…'

'Stop calling me that, stop calling me that,' he crammed his hands over his ears, 'I don't know what it means,' slowly he started to break down, 'I don't know what it means. Please,' his eyes stared tearfully up at them, 'just give me my son and leave.'

'I can't do that.'

'Yes you can. You can. You can. You can.'

'You can't take care of both of them on your own, you need help.'

'No I don't. I can do it all by myself. They don't need anyone but me.'

'Tristan…'

'I told you to stop calling me that,' Tristan glared at him. 'Just give me my son, now.'

'Only if you agree to come with me.'

For a few long moments Tristan just stared at him. Then slowly a look of conscious decision making flittered across his face.

'Alright,' he eventually lowered his head, 'I'll go with you. If you give me my son I'll go with you. Can I have him now?'

Joey nodded towards SK and after almost two minutes of scattered hesitation he eventually handed Taylor over. What remained of Taylor's whimpering now died away completely as Tristan pulled himself and Taylor towards the head of the bed.

'See it's alright,' Tristan's voice was low and it was unclear whether was talking to Kaiba or Taylor. 'It's okay. He's here.'

As he continued to whisper quietly to himself, Joey and Yugi gathered up things they figured the three of them would need whilst staying in the Southern Palace. Between the two of them they managed to fill two small bags, figuring anything else the three of them might need could be leant to them as and when. Once they'd finished packing Yugi took a few quiet seconds to study SK. He was starting to look a little more composed now, although it was clear from the way he kept swaying back and forth that he was only semi-aware of his new status as Taylor's Daiosen. A part of Yugi couldn't help but think this was a good thing; after all they still needed SK to help them locate and cure Mokuba and Serenity and if he was preoccupied with Taylor that just wouldn't happen. Especially not if his mind was still struggling to cope with what he'd been through...

'Tristan,' Joey interrupted Yugi's train of thoughts, 'you remember your promise, don't you? We have to go now.'

Tristan made no attempt at a reply. Instead he just continued to murmur things quietly to Taylor and Kaiba.

'Tristan…'

'I told you not to call me that.'

'I'm sorry, I just don't know how else to get your attention right now,' Joey sighed. 'You remember your promise, don't you? You have to come with me now.'

'I know,' Tristan sounded strangely disappointed, as though he had still hoped to avoid it somehow, 'I know.'


	40. Chapter 40

**Chapter 40**

'Gone?'

'Yeah,' Covo nodded.

'Are you sure?'

'He must have escaped somehow.'

'Well duh,' Joey rolled his eyes, before giving an exasperated sigh. 'That madman put them through hell, Kaiba almost died and now he's on the loose again; this is a major problem.'

'Hey, it's not like it was my fault.' Covo raised his hands defensively, 'I'm just the messenger here.'

'So what do we do now?' Yugi shot glances between them. 'I mean, we have to get them to some kind of safe house, right?'

'Wrong,' Joey shook his head, 'they're under enough stress as it is; they don't need to hear about this.'

'But…'

'We'll just have to find this guy before he finds them,' he folded his arms. 'I know it's just about the last thing we want to be doing right now, but what choice do we have.'

'Maybe... maybe we should split up into teams,' SK's tongue glanced across his lips a few times. 'Half of us... half of us should keep looking for a cure, the rest of us... the... the rest of us should go after this guy.'

'Sounds good to me.'

'Then do you mind if I... if I help work on the cure?' He licked his lips again.

'Sorry SK, I know you're still... I know you've been through a lot today, but I need you with me, Yugi and Duke.'

'I...'

'It'll be okay SK,' Joey placed a hand on his shoulder, 'and I'm pretty sure you're going to find actively doing something to help your cousin will make you feel better faster than having your head in a book.'

'So it's me, Ahna and Catilin on the Veronsen then?' Covo jumped in before SK had a chance to do anything other than look pensive and repeatedly lick his lips.

'Not Ahna,' Joey shook his head, 'right now I need Ahna to look after Taylor, Tristan and Kaiba. I know she's not officially a medical professional in any capacity, but she is the only one of us with any kind of medical experience. It was why I chose her to take care of Cat and why she's best suited to take care of them now.'

'I know it's just book reading and experimentation Veronie, but a team of three will still be faster than a team of two. Maybe we should get a little help in.'

'I'm not releasing Jay from his confinement.'

'I wasn't thinking about Jay.'

'I thought you and Korin agreed not to get her involved in stuff like this.'

'I wasn't thinking about my sister either,' he gave a nervous laugh.

'Then…?' Joey frowned.

Covo half turned and motioned towards someone stood just outside the door. After a few seconds, a green eyed blonde in a black tunic entered.

'Elizabeth?' SK stared at her.

'You know her?' Joey cocked an eyebrow.

'Yeah she... she was the one Dayena had watching over me.'

'I see,' Joey studied him for a moment, before turning his gaze towards Covo. 'You mind explaining what she's doing here?'

'She turned up whilst I was discovering our missing prisoner,' a tense smile pulled across Covo's face. 'She kind of knows bits and pieces of what's going on and I think she could help us.'

'Plus I am an expert in Veronsen,' Elizabeth loosely folded her arms across her chest.

'Really?' Joey narrowed his gaze on her.

'Death fascinates me,' she tilted her head to one side, 'and anything lying on the boundary between life and death is of a particular interest. Veronsen fall into that category.'

'Okay, fine, you can work with Catilin and Covo, but only if Dayena allows you to have a temporary transfer.'

'What?' Elizabeth looked horrified.

'Without the Pure, we can't transfer you properly.'

'That's not what I mean. I mean, why do you have to transfer me at all?'

'Because we can't have you summoned back to Dayena's Council whilst you're helping us. I know this is putting you outside your comfort zone, but it really can't be helped.'

'I guess I understand,' she gave a heavy sigh. 'Just do me a favour and promise me it'll only be temporary.'

* * *

Almost as soon as Elizabeth had traded her black tunic in for a long, old fashioned rose pink dress, Catilin had given her a look and shuffled her in the direction of a wardrobe. Covo was then forced to wait in the hallway as the young Silkoneon queen played dress up dolls with their latest recruit. Half an hour later they emerged, Elizabeth now adorned in one of the many loose fitting, hippie styled outfits Catilin kept at the Southern Palace. The former member of Lady Dayena's Council was considerably taller than her dresser, but the top and skirt combination picked out for her fitted well and suited her figure a darn sight more than the tunic or pink dress had.

'So can we actually do our job now?' Covo gave an impatient sigh. 'Or do I have to wait until she's done the catwalk?'

'No, we good,' Catilin grinned. 'In fact, we better than good, why didn't you tell me Nayta was still alive?'

'SK didn't tell you either.'

'SK is SK; he doesn't have to tell us things, it's part of his job. But it's not part of your job Covo so you should have told me.'

'I didn't tell you because I don't think it's a good omen. I mean, if she's alive, then where has she been for the last four days?'

'Maybe she hit her head and can't remember who she is and she's all lost and scared and... you should have told us you knew she wasn't dead.'

'We had enough missing people to cope with; I thought we could do without one more for now at least.'

'But... but... but she could be hurt out there,' Catilin's eyes were wide, 'we really should try and help her if we can.'

'I know, but...'

'She's our friend Covo, there shouldn't be any buts.'

'Okay, how about we make it our submission to find her, you know since we're the ones in the better position too.'

His words made Catilin's eyes gleam with excitement and he already knew she'd pretty much planned out exactly how they were going to cure the Veronsen, whilst hunting for Nayta.

'Shouldn't we just focus on the task we've been given,' Elizabeth voice was calm, but firm. 'I mean, the orders came from the First's host, didn't they? Or don't things like that count on the Mortal Plain.'

'They count,' Catilin giggled, 'but we don't always do exactly as we're told; what would the fun be in that?'

'Carrying out your responsibilities can be fun too you know.'

'Are you always such a spoilsport?'

'No, not always; I know how to have fun. I also know when it's appropriate to have fun. Besides, I want to make this transfer as temporary as possible and I can't do that if we're constantly getting distracted.'

'Why do you want to get away from us so bad?' Catilin pouted. 'Don't you like us?'

'That's not it,' Elizabeth shook her head, 'I just like working for Dee. I feel the same way about working for her as SK feels about working for the Mistresses. To me working for Death is the greatest job I could ever have.'

'That's kinda morbid.'

'It can't be morbid,' she smirked, 'I can't be morbid; I'm dead remember.'

'Jay once said being dead is an excuse to be morbid all the time because you can't be anything but.'

'Well Jay is about as weird as they come,' she rolled her eyes, 'it's why he gets on with everybody. Or at least it has something to do with it,' she sighed. 'But seriously, can we please just get on with the task we've been assigned?'

'Fine,' Catilin pouted again, 'but that doesn't mean I've given up on finding Nayta.'

'Of course not,' Covo smirked at her, 'you wouldn't be an Ashmar if you gave up on an idea that easily. And the gods know you're an Ashmar.'


	41. Chapter 41

**Chapter 41**

As soon as they'd arrived, they'd shuffled him and Seto into a small bedroom, taken his son away from him and locked the door. He felt like a prisoner, only he had no idea what he'd done wrong. At first he'd been angry and screamed at them to let him out and give him his son back. But that hadn't worked and eventually he broke down. After a while of sitting there, with his back against the door, sobbing, his eyes flittered up towards Seto. They'd taken his son away, what if they tried to take him away too? He couldn't let that happen.

Scrambling to his feet, he darted over to the bed and pulled him into his arms. No matter what they said, he wouldn't let go of him until he woke up. They could do what they liked to him, but he was never letting go. He didn't know how long he'd been sat there for, when he heard a key turning in the lock and his heart leapt in fear. Tightening his grip on Seto, he waited.

'Are you okay?' A girl, with long brown hair and soft brown eyes, poked her head round the door.

He didn't reply, instead he just stared at her moodily and hoped she'd get the message; there was no way she was taking Seto from him. Bringing herself fully into the room she revealed the tray of food she was carrying, which she placed on the chest of drawers opposite the bed before disappearing from the room again. Even though he was resolved not even the temptation of food would make him let go of Seto, he still couldn't help glancing over at it and noting one or two of the more curious objects the tray contained.

The girl returned a few moments later, this time carrying a young toddler with a mat of sandy blond hair. His bright, baby blue eyes were already starting to darken into his mother's brown and were filled with an infantile curiosity. Placing the infant down on the end of the bed, the girl once again left the room. After watching his mother leave, the child's eyes went up to meet his. The infant then gave a babyish laugh and smiled. Confused, he simply waited for the strange girl to return. It didn't take her long and this time she was holding the only thing in the whole world which could make him let go of Seto.

'Taylor!'

Nodding, she grinned at him before wondering over to the bed and perching next to him. He carefully lowered Seto back down and held out his arms towards her. Almost instantly she handed his son over to him, before getting up and making her way over to the chest of drawers.

'You want to feed him?' She picked one of the strange objects up from the tray.

'Can I?'

'Of course, he's your son, isn't he?' She moved back towards the bed and handed him the strange object. 'You know how to do it right?'

'Uh...' he blinked at her for a moment.

'Here I'll show you.'

He watched with fascination as she manipulated both the way he was holding Taylor and the position of the strange object until his son was drinking the white liquid it contained. His attention then focused entirely on what he was doing and for a few long moments there was silence.

'See, you're a natural,' her voice was soft and kind, 'now whilst you do that, I'll go get the crib.'

'Crib?' He stared at her in confusion.

'For Taylor,' her face filled with a warm little smile, 'currently there are two in my room, which is just next door by the way, only I'm now completely unable to move in there, so I thought one should come in here. That's if you don't mind Taylor sleeping in here with you.'

Grinning, he nodded furiously.

'Okay then, I'll be right back.'

She left and he turned his attention towards his son. He might not have known what the strange object was, but something about feeding Taylor felt strangely instinctive. For a moment he wondered if he'd ever done anything like this before, but he didn't really care enough to think about it for long. After about ten minutes the girl returned, but not through the door, as she had the last three times. This time she materialised out of nowhere, holding onto the edge of a smart wooden cage with no top and bedding in the bottom.

'Sorry if I startled you,' she smiled apologetically, after seeing his concerned look, 'but there was just no way I was going to be able to push this thing, even if I am only next door.'

'But how…?'

'Magic.'

'Are you like an angel or something?'

He felt incredibly childish asking her something like that, especially knowing those who'd imprisoned him here travelled in a similar way. But then again they hadn't been so nice.

'No,' she laughed lightly, 'I am very mortal, I just happen to be Silkoneon.'

'Oh I see,' he had no idea what that meant, but didn't want to spoil the magic by asking questions; he liked this girl. 'So do you have a name Miss Silkoneon?'

'Ahna,' she smiled, 'Ahna Crovell and he,' she indicated towards her son, 'is Crovell Lutoni and it's him you should be thanking.'

'Huh?'

'My son is a very intelligent and compassionate child,' her eyes glinted proudly, 'and he's the only male in this whole place who knows what's best for Taylor.'

'But he's just a baby.'

'I know, but I trust his judgment.'

'Won't you get in trouble?' A wave of concern hit him; he didn't want this kind young woman to be punished because of him.

'Veronie put me in charge of the three of you and if Crovell thinks you should be the one to look after Taylor, then that's what I think too. No one else's opinion matters.'

'But what if they get mad and take Crovell away from you and…'

'That won't happen,' she placed a reassuring hand on his arm, 'Veronie wouldn't dare. Besides, he has other things to worry about right now. You really are very good with him,' she nodded towards his son, 'truly a natural.'

'Thanks.'

'Do you know who you are?' She took a seat on the bed next to her own son. 'Your name I mean, do you know what it is?'

'No I don't,' he shook his head. 'They kept calling me Tristan but I don't really know what that means.'

'You didn't think it might have been your name?'

'I would have, if they didn't treat me the way they did.'

'I see,' an understanding look pulled across her face, 'so would you rather I didn't call you Tristan then?'

'I'd rather you didn't call me anything,' he pulled a face, 'when Seto wakes up he'll tell me my name; then I'll know what it is.'

'But I have to call you something until then.'

'Why?'

'Because everybody has to have some sort of name, else you just go round saying _hey you_ and that's not very nice.' She pressed her lips together and thought for a few moments. 'How about I call you Parto?'

'Why Parto?' He blinked at her.

'Because it means father.'

'I like that,' a proud grin flittered across his face and he stared down at Taylor. 'I'm his Parto and Seto's his Dad.'

'Sounds good to me,' she pulled Crovell onto her lap, 'what do you think little one?'

'Tay,' the infant chirped happily, 'Tay, Tay, Tay, Tay, Tay.'


End file.
